Jury selection is expected to kick off today in a trial in which Home Box Office Inc faces libel claims over a report linking British sporting goods company Mitre Sports International to child labour in India.
The trial in federal court in Manhattan is the culmination of years of litigation over the report on 'Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,' which first aired in September 2008.
Mitre, established in 1817, is the world's oldest manufacturer of soccer balls. The company says it does not use child labour and firmly opposes it.
Mitre, which is owned by the London-based Pentland Group, has called the report a 'hoax' and a 'hatchet job,' aimed at tarnishing the reputation of a company at the forefront of global efforts to eradicate child labour.
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HBO says it stands by the report, alternately titled 'Childhood Lost' and 'Children of Industry.' Ray Stallone, spokesman for the Time Warner Inc subsidiary, has repeatedly dismissed the libel case as 'without merit.'
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'The accusation that HBO or its Indian (news) stringers fabricated footage is false,' Stallone said on Friday.
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'Mitre has suffered and continues to suffer substantial damage to its name, mark, business and reputation,' the complaint said. It cited a decision by Wal-Mart Stores Inc to remove all Mitre Cobra soccer balls from its shelves after the report aired as one example of that damage.
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That principle is likely to be a pillar of HBO's defence in the case, since it has argued in court papers that its report was 'substantially true.' Child labour is pervasive in India and HBO contends that children in the country are involved in the manufacture of soccer balls, including Mitre-branded balls.
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The ruling means that Mitre does not have to prove 'actual malice' on the part of HBO, a tough standard in libel cases. Instead, Mitre only needs to convince the jury that HBO was grossly irresponsible in matters such as fact-checking and editing.
Kevin Baine, a defense lawyer for HBO, said Mitre still faces a tough court battle.
'Mitre has the burden of proving that HBO said something about Mitre that was false, and that HBO was grossly irresponsible in its reporting. HBO's position is that it was responsible and careful in its reporting, and that what it said about Mitre was true,' Baine said.
The case is Mitre Sports International Limited v. Home Box Office Inc in U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-09117.
© Thomson Reuters 2015
© Thomson Reuters 2015
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