New York judges suggest that Dr Luke might be a public figure as Kesha defamation case rumbles on

completemusicupdate.com:

Judges in the New York Court Of Appeals seemed to be erring towards classifying producer Dr Luke as a public figure at a hearing yesterday, which would have a big impact on his ongoing defamation lawsuit against Kesha.

Though his lawyer urged the judges not to equate having a profile within the music industry with being a public figure.Luke’s defamation lawsuit against Kesha is all that remains of what began as a multi-layered multi-state legal battle which was kickstarted when Kesha accused Luke of rape.

He denies those allegations and – arguing that Kesha’s claims have negatively impacted on his career – he sued for defamation.As the defamation case has gone through the motions, there has been much debate as to whether Luke needs to show that Kesha acted with actual malice when making her allegations against him.

If he does, that would increase Luke’s burden in court and make it harder for him to win.Under the relevant laws that were in place when this dispute began, Luke would only have to show actual malice if the courts deemed him to be a public figure.The judge hearing the case decided that the producer, as someone who worked behind the scenes in music, wasn’t sufficiently famous to be classified as a public figure, despite having enjoyed plenty of commercial success with the music he produced.Kesha’s team appealed that decision, hence the hearing in the Court Of Appeals.