§ 6.4.3 Statute of Limitations. A.R.S. § 12-541(1) provides a one-year statute of limitations "for injuries done to the character or reputation of another by libel or slander." Although that statute provides that the year begins to run when "the cause of action accrues" there is some ambiguity as to just when that occurs.
Normally, the year "begins to run upon publication" of the defamatory statement.2 The rule has been rigidly applied and has resulted in dismissal of a number of defamation cases.3 In Lim v. Superior Court,4 the court held that the statute is not tolled even if the identity of the defamer is unknown, absent intentional concealment.
Although some states have held that the "discovery rule" applies to defamation cases, so that the cause of action accrues only when the plaintiff knew or should have known of the defamations,5 Arizona has never gone that far. However, in Clark v. Airesearch Manufacturing Co.,6 the court adopted a modified rule of discovery, holding that the year is tolled "when the defamation is published in a manner in which [the defamation] is peculiarly likely to be concealed from the plaintiff, such as in a confidential memorandum or credit report." In that case, limitations still barred a claim based on a job reference that the plaintiff had been "fired for theft," in part because the plaintiff knew that "negative" things were being said about him more than a year earlier.7
The issue of first publication can be confusing when postings appear on the internet and remain online indefinitely. However, Arizona has adopted the single publication rule, which means that "a cause of action for defamation arises at the time the statement is first published; later circulation of the original publication does not start the statute of limitations anew, nor does it give rise to a new cause of action,"8 This means...
