Defamation is effected by either of the following:
(a) Libel.
(b) Slander.
Cal. Civ. Code § 44
PERSONAL RIGHTS
Applied in 39 court decisions — leading case 31 Cal. 4th 1230 - Shively v. Bozanich (2003)
Most recently applied in Karimi v. Golden Gate Sch. of Law (February 2019)
Amended by Stats. 1980, Ch. 676, Sec. 39.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.