Interesting to say the least, I wonder what post this is in…..

I haven’t heard of a case regarding a blog post or comment but there was a big fuss about a forum posting a couple of years ago here in the uk.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3644610.stm

I’ve not seen it happen with a blog personally but you might want to read this page http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/04/18/043121.php which talks about people being sued successully for posting comments on the internet.

I would take the idiot that started this lawsuit out to the woodshed. People like this should not be able to leave the house. I am astonished and disappointed in human kind.

wow just the comments of that post has some good debate

You might find this Delaware Supreme Court decision interesting, but I’m not certain how useful it will be to you, considering the fact patterns involved and the likeliness that you are in a different jurisdication.

Doe vs. Cahill

Still, there may be something in there that might be helpful. Here’s an AP wire article on it that puts it into perspective:

Court Rules in Favor of Anonymous Blogger

Wow. Think of the publicity and traffic that will generate for shoemoney.com . Can you get the press involved?

i hope this won’t prevent people from blogging frankly on shoemoney
but you’ll be getting a lot of publicity from this. the press will pick it up automatically - i’m sure they watch digg, frak, and others…

[...] writes Shoemoney’s Jeremy Shoemaker on his weblog. [...]

It’s simple. If the person can prove there was a loss, the other person will have to pay up if he or she has any money.

are you worried about your liability exposure of the liability of the poster?

I dont know enough about the legal system to know what to worry about =)

hmmm wonder which one….

Fortunately for whatever poster for whatever topic: truth is the defense for libel and slander. Shoe ad revenue up.

Man, that is deep! On the other hand, this is good press.

I’m very interested to see the outcome of this case.

Shoe, have you removed any of the particular postings?

have your attorney find out if you are on the hook here. You may need to add some language to the comments section saying that the comments do not necessarily reflect the view of the Shoemoney empire etc etc. Hopefully that would limit your exposure to your own posts..

Decent breakdown:

http://www.joegratz.net/archives/2006/04/20/blog-law-blogging-for-lawyers-evan-brown-on-defamation/

I am actually surprised that nobody else has even noticed that you can not “slander” someone on a blog. It is just not possible legally. Slander is quite simply, spoken words. Libel, however, is written words an is more likely the case here.

Top Blogger Subpoenaed Over Alleged Slander in Comments…

Jeremy Shoemaker, who writes ShoeMoney - one the most widely linked to blogs according to Technorati, has been asked to testify and supply his blog logs in a case where one individual allegedly slandered another in his blog comments. He’s…

I would think Aaron Wall from SEOBook.com would have some insightful information for you from his experience earlier this year with Traffic Power.

my guess it involves this post http://www.shoemoney.com/2006/05/08/plentyoffish-marketing-101-when-all-else-fails-just-lie/ and the exchange between Shawn M. and Markus from plentyoffish.com

Shoemoney.com Subpoenaed in Slander Case…

In what is sure to become a much watched case, Jeremy Shoemaker of ShoeMoney.com has been subpoenaed in a slander case where plaintiff is suing someone for posting slanderous comments within the ShoeMoney.com blog. Jeremey doesn’t give much informatio…

So sad to hear about these things… what the hell happened to FREEDOM OF SPEECH?

Atleast you’ve got plenty of new traffic rolling in…

Negative….

read the papers from aaron walls case against traffic power. He was sued for slander on his blog

My guess it is is related to the Lincoln firm that was going to do a redesign of his website.

Jeremy: Do you have a court filing number (or whatever it is called) so we can look this up online?

was it mailed or delivered by a subpoena deliverer in person? is it in your state or different state?

these are things to consider.

similar experience: i once received a subpoena by mail (no confirmation of any kind) for a hearing or trial or legal action that I personally had nothing to do with but it was where I worked and they used one of our ‘housing available’ bulletin boards.

it was to occur in the courts in the city i was working in. i did nothing about it. nothing ever happened. i never heard back from any parties involved.

fwiw.

In the end, it sounds like another great marketing tactic for a couple of sites. Attention is attention and it works.

Freedom of speech has NOTHING to do with this. Or do you think there are different laws for the internet and for the “real world”?

Jeremy, you should be happy that you aren’t living in Germany. We have a huge lawsuit going on in this country right now where some guy sued a forum for a post of a member and the judge ruled that there are many cases where the forum owner is actually responsible.

[...] But it seems that there’s a current case that involves Jeremy Schoemaker over at Shoemoney. [...]

Thats the way it is these days, everyone is out for an easy buck. Easier to sue for it than to work for it. I might call people like this scum but then that might start another lawsuit. Geez, what an enormous waste of time!

Just saw the article about you in webservices mag. Way to go!

I don’t see anything said in that blog that would hurt a persons biz and cost them money. Maybe it is all a pub stunt between the two of them. Doesn’t really matter, whatever works to bring traffic, go for it.

I wrote this post a while ago, but maybe there’s some information in here that might be useful.

It was an interview with the NYT general counsel on libel.

Thats terrible…. god im gonna have to be less flippant on my comments everywhere….

No it’s not that simple. They must also prove that what was said was untrue. Moreover, if the comment was stated as an opinion and based on fact that are corectly stated it falls under “fair comment” and there is no case.

Only because this a confusing distinction, this may help…

Slander is spoken defamation, libel is written. So this would be libel.

Jeremy, if you’ll allow me to shamelessly plug, we’ll be covering this starting Tuesday in Blogging Law 101 on tubetorial.com

reminds me of when Oprah was sued over her comments about Cattle beef. Ranchers said she caused their prices to drop which she probably did but there is also the freedom of press/speech.

They lost thanks to her high powered attorneys by a large part!
When you sue a billionaire, most likely you are going to lose.

You mean, I’ve been wasting all of this time reading through your blog for money-making tips and info… when I could have just skipped to the big payout and sued one of your other readers?

[...]  http://www.shoemoney.com/2006/09/01/shoemoneycom-involved-in-a-landmark-blog-case-slander-in-comments/ [...]

Sorry to hear about, though it sounds interesting. I don’t think you can be held liable though.

You may contact owner of http://jeffooi.com/ who has had similar experience here in Malaysia. It may be different, but who knows, you may find his advice helpful..

I would be talking to a few High Profile Lawyers myself… The better/bigger the law firm I think the better representation you will get…

[...] This will definitely be an upcoming story on Digg and tons of blogs, because up until now there hasn’t been many lawsuits similar to this! Shoemoney.com is an amazing blog which is run by Jeremy Shoemaker who discusses a ton of topics related to SEO and marketing. However, he was recently sued for displaying a comment submitted by a visitor to his site! [...]

The blogosphere is watching this one!

[...] Well, it looks like that is what is happening over on the Shoemoney blog. Apparently, Jeremy Shoemaker who is the owener of the blog is being subpoena for slander that one user had done against another within the comment section of a post. Unfortunately no mention of the original post that was the basis for this lawsuit, but this is a rather disturbing development and could have some ramification on the sphere.  Share:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

Sorry to hear about this but society seems ever more litigious.

On the up side, they do say that any publicity is good publicity!

Looks like a test case, will be difficult to find the person responsible for
their public comments. Seems to be a trend to harm blogging and free
speech now days on any chat medium and there ard there are many
problems with this because of so many hacked accounts. It could very
be that an innocent person may get hurt here.

Seems to be the trend now days to prevent people from airing their
views on any chat medium.

Could very well be a test case.

Many problems with this, because of so many hacked accounts, that an innocent person could get hurt here

I got this comment on my blog yesterday. Don’t know if it’s connected with Jeremy’s “case”. Looks spammy though.

————————————————

Hello Marc:

While investigating the fellow you named in your entry “Another Linkbait Classic From�, we found your website.

We wonder if you’re aware that that idiot and seo scammer is under investigation?

So, for linking to him, we hope you’ll not be surprized to get a subpoena soon from us.

John Hammer (33degrees)

Good luck with the case. In the US, defamation cases are difficult to win as the law provides for many “legal” excuses to help keep free speech alive. It is true that first the person has to prove that the comment, was, in fact, untrue, that the person said it with the intent to be malicious and then they have to prove that they were significantly damaged by it.

Are they naming you as well in the suit or are just using your blog posts as evidence?

Followup: Another Reason to Keep Your Net Behavior Professional…

…

[...] Slander in Blog Comments After reading ShoeMoney.com Involved In A Landmark Blog Case - Slander In Comments, I got reminded of the subpoena sent to my sister in San Francisco to provide information on my daughter’s blog commenter. This happened a year ago. Obviously, the Philippines is not within the California jurisdiction. They ended up harassing my poor sister who had to hire a lawyer, And you know legal fees in the US are not cheap. My sister didn’t want to be involved in the case because first , she doesn’t own the blog. Second, they will require her to appear Los Angeles for hearings. It is such a waste of time [...]

I hope you have patience - seems like the law is hitting blogs harder now.

[...] Read More [...]

Has anyone taken a look at Markus’ blog?

Please, if you really want to know the answer to this question and be able to sleep at night, ASK A LAWYER.

Asking people at random will just give your crap results.

Though no, to answer your question, there have not yet been any cases directly related to *blogs* but there have been several cases related to online forums and message boards, wherein it was held that the operators of the forums and message boards are not responsible for postings made by 3rd parties.

I imagine the application to blogs is the same, but like I said, I would check with a lawyer. Initial interviews to discuss situations like this are free, and it will only cost you money if you choose to retain his/her/their services.

Cough, that’s correct except for the bit about the opinion. If you make factually false statements of libelous or slanderous nature, it doesn’t matter whether you intended it as fact or as opinion.

Oooh, the drama…

Why don’t you take that fatty Google check and get an actual attorney. You look like a shlub soliciting legal advice from random yokels on the internets.

Also, anyone who uses the word “blogosphere” should be stabbed in the eye with a rusty fork over the internet.

Good luck.

Blogger Sued…

This blogger is being sued for comments posted on his blog…

This blogger stood his ground and scared off his accusers.

I am not sure how that even flies… Don’t thosands of sites do this daily? I mean people posting comments about celebrities, athletes, and others? Seems kind of odd that it only applies to “blogs”.

Can someone give more info on how this works?

Plenty of internet libel law pertaining to online discussions here .

Dang nice Link bait ?

[...] Landmark Slander (or Libel?) Case Involving a Blog One poster slandered (or wrote libelous comments) about another, and now is being taken to court with the comments subpoena’d. A cautionary reminder that all we write about are public domain (tags: slander libel blogging legal) [...]

If 2 people fight on your blog, why will something be related to u :-S

It’s nice to see that the majority of people here feel this is ridiculous.

Blog-Kommentatoren gehen nach Blogger-Kontroverse vor Gericht…

Dass Blogger Kontroversen mögen, ist allgemein bekannt. Es streitet sich herrlich schön in der Blogosphäre, manchmal enstehen wirklich konstruktive Dialoge daraus, oft dienen die Kontroversen nur dem “Linkbaiting”. Dies ist eine SEO-Takt…

Always thinking of the business.

If it’s not Markus suing someone that left a comment, his post titled Shoemoney & Blogging & Libel would seem to give the impression that it’s him suing you.

I’m guessing that it’s not the case, since you two seem to have made up–and he even came on the radio show. Maybe he’ll update his post for clarity if that’s not the case.

[...] Sure, now someone is going to court for saying whats on his mind? Read this to find out exactly what im talking about. » ShoeMoney.com Involved In A Landmark Blog Case - Slander In Comments : Shoemoney Marketing Thoughts [...]

Perhaps you could check with the EFF? I think that they would be interested in this….
http://www.eff.org/

I don’t think you personally could be held liable for comments made by another. Perhaps the situation could be (have been) resolved simply by removing the post?

I also think it depends on if the person being slandered was a public figure vs. a private figure (I believe the laws are different in this arena…but I could be wrong).

SHOEMONEY

I have been in this industry many years and I have never seen anyone generate buzz like you.

Your site went from not on the net to #66 most popular blog in less then 1 year ?!? AMAZING

[...] I came across something interesting involving the Shoemoney case. Although it is not confirmed that Markus Frind is one of the parties in this case, his most recent blog post would lead you to believe that he is: [...]

In the case of false statements, it then has to be proven that the person knew that what they said was untrue before they said it.

It will be very interesting to see how this case works out for you Shoe. I will be keeping track of all the latest developments in the new Shoemoney section of my blog

another great idea to get people linking to your blog.

doubt this is real.

It will be interesting to watch the direction this takes the blogging world. The idea of censoring ones thoughts is alien these days.

Ninety percent of you are completely wrong about what is going on here. Shoe is not being sued. He’s only being compelled by the subpoena to provide information for a court case. He’s a third party, or ‘innocent’ bystander. No one is try to hold Shoe responsible for what someone else said on his blog.

To put it another way, person A said person B is a moron on Shoe’s blog. Person B didn’t like this and is suing person A. For part of their case person B probably needs to prove it was person A and has to get that information from Shoe.

Try looking up what a subpoena is, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subpoena.

Landmark Blogger Lawsuit against commenter…

I’m of the frame of mind, go ahead and sue, I’m broke, all you’ll do is make me owe more money, of which I won’t pay. Is it really worth your time?…

Can you say this country really needs tort reform, for that matter the world needs it. I can.

I can’t wait to see what comes of this. Probably another publicity stunt by a webmaster that can’t find traffic any other way. (Not refering to Shoemoney ;))

Let us know of any updates shoe…

[...] But it seems that there’s a current case that involves Jeremy Schoemaker over at Shoemoney. [...]

Comedians and cartoonists can mercilessly bash anyone they want with almost no fear of legal consequences. If it was a comment that mocks a work or person, not necessarily to criticize, but in order to make a joke then it’s protected free speech. Parody is almost always negative and often slanderous but if it was just a joke, then I believe it’s protected.

Not sure if someone else has said this as I skimmed a fair few of the comments. You can’t slander someone on a blog. But you can libel them.

[...] Over at Shoemoney, it looks like they’ve been subpoenaed to provide testimoney and server logs in a slander case involving comments on one of their posts: I am sorry I have to be so vague but it appears that I am going to be deposition and logs from my blog will be subpoena for use in a case where 1 person slandered another on my blog. Anyway it looks like 1 of the people is seeking damages for what the other said on my blog. [...]

I find this particular post funny after Quadszilla was recently talking about the power of viral hoax marketing.

I am neither calling this a hoax or Jeremy a liar, but imagine if it were. This is spreading like wildfire.

It’ll be intresting to see what comes of this,

Definetly intresting for 1 blog post LOL

Your traffic just went up 10 fold hehe.

I can’t bad mouth you in “real life”, now can I? So how is this any different to that if it really WAS done with ill intent in mind?
I don’t understand why so many people are so eager to jump on the “free speech” bandwagon in general.

[...] http://www.shoemoney.com/2006/09/01/shoemoneycom-involved-in-a-landmark-blog-case-slander-in-comments/ [...]

Things We Need…

A shoe designers version of Project Runway; Automated Barbie Dolls that can beat up Ken; A site named Shoemoney should be devoted to spending money on shoes; xoxo Shoelover…

This has happened to James Poling of BlogNYC (now metadish). He was sued by a former playboy playmate for his posts about her. Suit is still pending.
We posted on it & gave the legal criteria for winning (or losing) a defamation case (libel for written defamation). Here’s the link
http://blog.sellsiusrealestate.com/?p=1144

Bottom line: Defamation is very hard case to win because damages are tough to prove & a little thing they call the First Amendment protecting opinions. Still it’s costly to defend. A motion for summary judgment is the fastest and cheapest way out.

[...] A defamation lawsuit has been filed over comments made on ShoeMoney blog. The owner of the blog, Jeremy Schoemaker, will be questioned (deposed) and his logs subpoened. [...]