## Facts

- Newsweek published a feature identifying 11 university “blowoff” courses, describing them as requiring little work while still yielding high grades.
- The article characterized the listed courses with evaluative phrases such as “blowoff,” “good for the grade-point-average,” and “painless.”
- Kaplan, a university professor who taught one of the listed courses, alleged the article harmed his professional reputation by implying academic laxity or incompetence.
- The article criticized courses’ perceived ease and did not name Kaplan or discuss his teaching performance.
- Kaplan sued Newsweek for libel in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
- The district court dismissed the complaint, and Kaplan appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether describing a course as a “blowoff” that is “good for the grade-point-average” and “painless” is an actionable defamatory statement or protected opinion.
2. Whether criticism of a course satisfies the “of and concerning” requirement as to the course’s instructor when the article does not discuss the instructor.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Kaplan’s libel claim.
- The court held the challenged statements were nonactionable opinion rather than provably false factual assertions.
- The court further concluded the article was about the course, not Kaplan, and therefore was not reasonably understood as defaming him personally.

## Legal Principles

- Defamation requires a statement that a reasonable reader would understand as asserting a provably false fact; subjective evaluative characterizations are generally nonactionable opinion.
- The “of and concerning” element is not met when a publication criticizes an institution or offering (here, a course) without identifying or discussing the plaintiff and without reasonably implying specific misconduct by the plaintiff.
- Generalized, value-laden commentary about educational quality or course difficulty is typically treated as rhetorical evaluation rather than a factual claim about an instructor’s competence.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit held that Newsweek’s “blowoff course” descriptions were protected opinion and, in context, were not “of and concerning” Kaplan, so dismissal of his libel action was proper.


Kaplan v. Newsweek Magazine, Inc., 776 F.2d 1053 (9th Cir. 1985)