Tom, a 22-year-old man still in college, invents "Doors," a brand new operating system that takes off as soon as he launches it. After just 8 months, it is estimated that Doors is installed on 5% of all computers worldwide. Tom makes over $10,000,000 based on his invention.
The Daily Gazette publishes a feature article on Tom at this time. In the article, the author accuses Tom of having cheated on a political science examination during his second year of college. The Gazette cites an anonymous source who told the paper that Tom cheated on his exam.
It turns out that the anonymous source was Tom's roommate, Jim. What the Gazette didn't realize, however, is that Tom and Jim had formerly been partners and that their breakup had been exceedingly bitter. In fact, Jim had made up the entire story about Tom cheating and it was completely false.
Tom sues the Gazette for defamation. The Gazette claims that Tom is a public figure and so Tom should have to show actual malice to win his case. Tom argues that he is not a public figure since all he did was invent and market a product.
Please compose an essay addressing the following questions:
1) Is, and to what extent, should Tom be considered a public figure, for purposes of his defamation action?
2) Please analyze, based partly on your answer to question 1, who should win the case and why.
Please use appropriate legal citations in your essay. You may use any federal case law for this assignment.