Last week, Thiels lawyer-for-hire, Charles J. Harder, sent Gawker a letter on behalf of Ivari Internationals owner and namesake, Edward Ivari, in which Harder claims that Feinbergs story was false and defamatory, invaded Ivaris privacy, intentionally inflicted emotional distress, and committed tortious interference with Ivaris business relations. Harder enumerates 19 different purportedly defamatory statementsalmost all of which were drawn from several publicly available lawsuits filed against Ivari.
...
[We specifically demand that Gawker Media and its employees] immediately provide us with the name and all contact information for the unnamed tipster of the Story, so that we can serve that person with an immediate cease and desist letter to stop the spread of the false Story.
...
These claims are, on their face, ridiculous. For instance, one of the defamatory statements Gawker published, according to Harder, is this: Whats more, Ivaris New York location is inside Trump Toweron the private floor reserved for Donald Trumps own office.
...
The second set of defamatory statements, Harder claims, were taken from a lawsuit filed against Mr. Ivari by Alicia Roachthat is, an official judicial proceeding, the publication of which is protected by New York States fair report privilege
...
Ordinarily, we would publish the entirety of Harders letter, so readers can judge its merits themselves. (Gawker Medias response can be read here.) But Harder claims, on the fifth page, that the document is protected by applicable Copyright law and therefore may not be copied, published, disseminated or used by any person or for any purpose, other than internally at your company and its outside legal representatives.
