Talk:Public figure

limited = limited purpose?

What is the difference between "limited purpose public figure" and "limited public figure", as mentioned in the article? Aren't they the same? Regards, High on a tree (talk) 01:16, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Need for a history of the term

The definition of "public figure" has evolved over the years. For example in my copy of Black's Law Dictionary (3rd edition, copyright 1933), a "public character" is defined as "An individual who asks for and desires public recognition, such as a statesman, author, artist, or inventor" then directs the reader to the legal case of Corliss v. E.W. Walker Co. (64 F. 280, 31 LRA 283). In other words, concepts like "business leader" or "celebrity" have been added to this 1933 definition -- although I don't know when they were added, nor what the definition of "public figure" was before 1933. There's a lot of territory left uncovered by this article. -- llywrch (talk) 21:42, 22 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject." -- So are we going to have multiple entries for "public figure" - one for USA, one for Britain, one for Zimbabwe? This seems silly to me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tpkatsa (talk • contribs) 14:43, 25 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

==== Readability and coherence It's wonderful that we have a legal explanation, but the meaning of this explanation is not clear to the casual reader and therefore is not friendly to a Wiki audience. More than that the legalise makes this appear just to be a legal term applied to lawsuits when cultural use of the term is interchangable with celebrity even in concerns not dealing with the court system.