On April 28, 2008, New York Governor David Paterson signed into law the Libel Terrorism Protection Act, the nation’s first legislative attempt at protecting American authors and publishers from a recent explosion of forum-shopping, aptly called “libel tourism.” Instead of suing American members of the media in the United States, wealthy litigants increasingly file suit in claimant-friendly countries, where the publication and the parties have little connection and the plaintiff is more likely to win. Since its enactment, New York’s bold and controversial law, which allows a New York defendant to obtain an order barring enforcement of the foreign libel judgment, has become a national model. Illinois passed its own libel tourism law in August 2008, and, at the time of publication, Congress is currently considering two variations of a similar federal statute, one of which unanimously passed the House of Representatives in September 2008.
