Seaton v. Tripadvisor

UPDATE 8/28/13

STATUS:  Federal appeals court says owner cannot sure website over list.

6th.Cir.: Owner of America's Dirtiest Hotel Loses TripAdvisor lawsuit
Reuters
The owner of a hotel in Tennessee's Great Smokey Mountains that had the dubious honor of topping TripAdvisor's 2011 list of dirtiest hotels cannot sue the website's operator for defamation.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/28/tripadvisor-dirtyhotel-lawsuit-idUSL2N0GT0RH20130828

Opinion:
http://www.medialaw.org/images/medialawdaily/seaton2.pdf

Seaton v. Tripadvisor (8/22/2012)

STATUS: Court dismissed libel suit.

E.D.Tenn.: Court Dismisses Libel Suit Against Tripadvisor Over Dirtiest Hotels List
"Tripadvisor's list is of the genre of hyperbole that is omnipresent. From law schools to restaurants, from judges to hospitals, everything is ranked, graded, ordered and critiqued...A reasonable person would not confuse a ranking system, which uses consumer reviews as its litmus, for an objective assertion of fact."

Opinion: Seaton v. Tripadvisor
http://www.medialaw.org/images/medialawdaily/seaton.pdf