---
title: "Compare a published passage with a proposed correction"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/compare-the-published-text-with-a-proposed-correction/united-states"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A33-A20260923-3-US"
practice_area: "Defamation & Media Law"
tier: "green"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["US"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-22"
---

# Compare a published passage with a proposed correction

> Place the published passage and the proposed correction in two columns and mark the words that differ. Add no judgment about conspicuousness, timeliness or legal effect.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/compare-the-published-text-with-a-proposed-correction/united-states  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Defamation & Media Law](https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law.md) |
| Human involvement | Green: AI drafts, lawyer checks |
| How AI is used | Place the published passage and the proposed correction in two columns and mark the words that differ. Add no judgment about conspicuousness, timeliness or legal effect. |
| What the lawyer must review | The columns are fixed at setup. Civil Code § 48a(a) limits recovery in an action for damages for libel in a daily or weekly news publication, or slander by radio broadcast, to special damages unless a correction is demanded and is not published or broadcast as the section provides. The notice and demand must be served within 20 days after knowledge of the publication or broadcast. Section 48a(b) describes a correction published or broadcast in substantially as conspicuous a manner, in the same publication or on the same station, in a regular issue within three weeks after service. Section 48a(d)(5) defines a daily or weekly news publication as a publication, in print or electronic form, that contains news on matters of public concern and that publishes at least once a week. You decide whether the draft meets that description. Civil Code § 45 defines libel as a false and unprivileged publication by writing, printing, picture, effigy or other fixed representation to the eye, which exposes a person to hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy, or causes the person to be shunned or avoided, or has a tendency to injure the person in the person's occupation. |
| Written for | United States |
| Applies to | [Compare the published text with a proposed correction](https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/compare-the-published-text-with-a-proposed-correction.md) |

## Checking plan

- What the AI does: Place the published passage and the proposed correction in two columns and mark the words that differ. Add no judgment about conspicuousness, timeliness or legal effect.
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 22 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Notes

- Section 48a covers libel in a daily or weekly news publication, as § 48a(d)(5) defines it, and slander by radio broadcast. It is not a general retraction statute for every online post.
- Other states have their own retraction statutes, or none. Read the state of publication.

## Sources

- [California Civil Code § 48a (correction in a news publication or a radio broadcast)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=48a.) (checked 2026-10-22)
- [California Civil Code § 45 (libel defined)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=45) (checked 2026-10-22)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Retraction and correction demand](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/us-retraction-demand.md) | Letter | Yellow | A demand that a publisher or broadcaster correct specified statements. California Civil Code section 48a is included only as one state's statute, and only where that section applies. |
| [Deed of settlement and release for a defamation dispute, with agreed correction, apology and removal terms](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/defamation-settlement-deed-correction-apology.md) | Deed | Yellow | Deed settling a defamation complaint before or during proceedings: payment, removal and non-republication, an agreed correction or apology in a schedule with placement and duration, mutual releases,… |
| [Correction, clarification or apology for publication, with placement and prominence schedule](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/correction-clarification-apology-for-publication.md) | Notice | Yellow | Three graded forms of published corrective statement (clarification, correction, correction with apology) for a publisher responding to a complaint or an offer to make amends, with a schedule fixing… |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*