wo sugar-cane plantation owners from the Dominican Republic must satisfy a higher standard reserved for public figures if they are to prevail in a libel suit against American filmmakers who made a documentary critical of the Caribbean nation's sugar industry, a federal court of appeals has ruled.

Juan and Felipe Vicini Lluberes, who are brothers, sued Uncommon Productions for allegedly libelous statements made in the 2007 documentary The Price of Sugar, which criticized the treatment of Haitian laborers in Dominican sugarcane plantations. The key issue in the libel case concerns whether the brothers, who spoke to the media about their depiction in the documentary, are private or public figures.

According to an opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston (First Circuit) issued in November, Juan and Felipe Vicini Lluberes qualify as limited-purpose public figures. A limited-purpose public figure is private citizen who becomes well-known for a particular issue, but isn't necessarily a household name.

Because the brothers "leveraged their positions and contacts to influence a favorable outcome" in a controversy over the treatment of their workers, they must show that any false statements in the film were made with actual malice, the court of appeals ruled.

The case narrowly limits the circumstances in which a plaintiff has a right to reply in the media without becoming a limited-purpose public figure, said Elizabeth Koch, attorney for Uncommon Productions.

The Price of Sugar presents a scathing view of living conditions in the worker-populated plantation villages, called bateyes, according to the district court opinion in the case. These conditions include poor housing, inadequate nutrition and sanitation, and a lack of education for children in the bateyes, the district court wrote. The film focuses in large part on the actions of Father Christopher Hartley, a Catholic priest who has worked to improve living conditions for the workers.

- See more at: https://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/dominican-sugar-executives-are-public-figures-court-rules#sthash.dPFCNGIb.dpuf - See more at: https://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/dominican-sugar-executives-are-public-figures-court-rules#sthash.dPFCNGIb.dpuf