In North Carolina, a libel suit must be commenced within one year from the date on which the libelous material was published.[190] Republishing a defamatory statement on a website starts the clock again for purposes of the statute of limitations, a federal court in North Carolina ruled in 2007. In April 2004 the Greensboro News & Record published an article in which it said Anwar Ouazzani-Chadi’s first marriage was a “sham” marriage for the purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship.[191] The newspaper authorized republication of the article on a judicial candidate’s website sometime in 2006, and Ouazzani-Chadi filed a libel action in September 2006. The court refused to dismiss the lawsuit against the News & Record for this secondary publication, quoting a 1925 N.C. Supreme Court case: “[T]he author of a defamation . . . is liable for damages caused by or resulting directly and proximately from any secondary publication or repetition which is the natural and probable consequence of his act.”[192]
[190] Id. at §1-54 (3).
[191] Ouazzani-Chadi v. Greensboro News & Record, No. 1:06CV00848, 2007 WL 1362389 at *1 (M.D.N.C. May 8, 2007).
[192] Id. (quoting Sawyer v. Gilmers, 189 N.C. 7, 126 S.E. 183, 187 (1925)).
