Corporations being "fictive person" (whatever that means) isn't a relevant factor. What does matter is that they are legal persons[1], and therefore can sue people under tort law. It's not hard to find defamation cases where corporations are the plaintiffs[2]. In fact corporations suing people for defamation is such a big issue that there's even legislation to prevent it from being abused[3]
Yes, 'legal person', as opposed to real or physical person, i.e. a fictive person.
In the US, can other fictive persons sue for defamation too? If I walk around in a US city with a sign claiming that Barney the dinosaur stole diapers from orphans and use hard drugs, is that legally defamation? Or is it restricted to fictions used to name and organise economic activity, is it money and bookkeeping that creates this particular personhood?
> Yes, 'legal person', as opposed to real or physical person, i.e. a fictive person.
>In the US, can other fictive persons sue for defamation too?
The case law is pretty clear that yes, corporations can sue for defamation. As I mentioned before, you can find plenty of appellate-level cases where corporations have sued others for defamation. The fact that nobody has seriously tried to have such cases quashed on account of "corporations are fictive persons" or whatever suggests that it's not a serious legal argument worth considering. Arguing over this makes as much sense as arguing whether driving a car counts as "traveling" and whether that's protected by the constitution or not[1].
If you think it's fine and dandy that fictions are treated as if they're real in courts, that's just like your opinion, man.
Where I live, fictions aren't treated that way. The closest thing we have is immaterial rights, copyright and the like, 'protecting the fruits of spiritual labour'.
>If you think it's fine and dandy that fictions are treated as if they're real in courts, that's just like your opinion, man.
1. it's not just "like [my] opinion, man", it's how the legal system works in the US and most common law jurisdictions. You thinking otherwise makes as much sense as the people who think they don't need driver's licenses because they're not "driving", they're "traveling".
2. It sounds like you reject the concept of corporate personhood entirely. That's fine and all, but it's weird to bring that up when talking about tangential topics (eg. whether you can be sued for providing false information). It's even more weird to bring it up in a manner that suggests you're describing how the legal system works, rather than your opinion on how it ought to act.
the CNBC link you provided even says that the guy who got sued for the review later won the case
further more to win the case the other company will have to prove that 1) the document were fake, and that we faked them, and 2) that it doesn't match their real pricing, which means sharing that pricing info with the court and the other party. sure boss, sue me, and tell everyone what your actual pricing structure is, on the record, and at risk of contempt of court. that could be far more damaging than than any actual blowback from people making up numbers on the internet.
hell, post how expensive my product is, so that when I discount it heavily to future customers they think they're getting a sweetheart deal. "oh that quote was for a customer who wanted several bespoke features added, so it was expensive for them. but it helped mature the platform :)"
> Buyers contribute prices via quotes, pricing proposals, and other documentation to ensure quality.