---
title: "List the terms for a defamation settlement and a correction"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/draft-a-settlement-deed-and-a-corrective-statement-or-apology/united-states"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A33-T1-R10-US"
practice_area: "Defamation & Media Law"
tier: "red"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["US"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-22"
---

# List the terms for a defamation settlement and a correction

> From the term sheet the lawyer supplies, list the payment if any, the correction text if any, the publication, and the date. Write no sentence of the agreement or the correction.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/draft-a-settlement-deed-and-a-corrective-statement-or-apology/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 | Red: Lawyer writes; AI may check, clarify or collect data |
| How AI is used | From the term sheet the lawyer supplies, list the payment if any, the correction text if any, the publication, and the date. Write no sentence of the agreement or the correction. |
| What the lawyer must review | You write the agreement and any correction. Civil Code § 48a(a) requires a written notice specifying the statements claimed to be libelous and demanding correction, served within 20 days after knowledge, for the damages rule in that section to move beyond special damages. Section 48a(b) describes a correction published or broadcast in substantially as conspicuous a manner, in the same publication or on the same station, within three weeks after service. You decide whether a contractual correction meets that description and whether § 48a applies at all. The term list is not the deed. |
| Written for | United States |
| Applies to | [Draft a settlement deed and a corrective statement or apology](https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/draft-a-settlement-deed-and-a-corrective-statement-or-apology.md) |

## Checking plan

- What the AI does: From the term sheet the lawyer supplies, list the payment if any, the correction text if any, the publication, and the date. Write no sentence of the agreement or the correction.
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 22 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Notes

- Section 48a(d)(5) limits a daily or weekly news publication to print or electronic news on matters of public concern that publishes at least once a week.
- A settlement payment is not special damages, general damages, or exemplary damages under § 48a(d) until you characterise it. The statute defines those terms.
- Other states' retraction statutes differ or do not exist.

## 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.*