Contemporary Business and Online Commerce Law 7th Edition by Henry R Cheeseman

Exercise 5

Ethics The National Enquirer, Inc. is a Florida corporation with its principal place of business in Florida. It publishes the National Enquirer, a national weekly newspaper with a total circulation of more than 5 million copies. About 600,000 copies, almost twice the level in the next highest state, are sold in California. The Enquirer published an article about Shirley Jones, an entertainer. Jones, a California resident, filed a lawsuit in California state court against the Enquirer and its president who was a resident of Florida. The California lawsuit sought damages for alleged defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. California had a long-arm statute. The defendants allege that they were not subject to lawsuit in California. Did the defendants act ethically in trying to avoid the lawsuit in California? Are the defendants subject to suit in California? Why or why not? Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783, 104 S.Ct. 1482, 79 L.Ed.2d 804, Web 1984 U.S. Lexis 4 (Supreme Court of the United States)

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Law arm statute:

It simply refers to the jurisdiction that a court has over the non-residents or out-of-state defendant corporations. The state can exercise this jurisdiction provided that the government can prove that the defendant has at least minimum contacts with the forum state.