One person may sue another for libelous statements made in visual or sound media. Section 1 of the Act permits a defendant to plead and prove certain facts which will prevent the plaintiff from recovering punitive damages and also will mitigate actual damages. These facts include: the defendant acted without malice; the plaintiff did not request a retraction; or the defendant published a retraction in a manner as conspicuous as that of the defamatory statement. Section 2 of the Act defines the tort of abusive litigation. A plaintiff may sue in tort if a defendant, with malice, levied a claim against him which was frivolous, groundless in law or fact, or vexatious. The Act permits several complete defenses to the tort, including: that the original plaintiff pursued the suit in good faith; that the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the suit; or that the defendant in the abusive litigation suit was substantially successful in the underlying suit that formed the basis of the claim for abusive litigation.
