Using photos on a website

[rynmccn]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida.

I think I have an Idea for a great website (a real money maker...lol). I was wondering how much liability a website has for the content posted by it's subscribers. Would I, the website owner, be liable if one of my subscribers posted a photo of another person on their page? (similar to Facebook).

Lets say for example I started a dating website that allowed people to review past dates. How much information could the subscribers post about non-subscribers. In this example "Andy Anderson" (one of my subscribers) went on a dinner date with "Susie Smith", a non-subscriber. He wanted to write a review of his experience, and share his opinion about her. Could he post her full name, age, the city she lives in, and a picture of her? I would think that any picture taken of her by him is his property and he could post it all over the internet if he wanted. Let's say Susie discovered that she had been "reviewed" on this site and was offended at the things he said. Would the website owner be liable for the comments posted by a subscriber? Where does freedom of speech weigh in on this Vs. Defamation of character issues?

I appreciate any legal advice anyone has in this matter.

 

[quincy]

Your website example is one that is sure to spawn lawsuits. If this is the type of site you are looking at starting, then you can pretty much expect lawsuits to be filed against some subscribers and possibly against your site. Whether you, as the website owner, would be held liable in any lawsuit for the content posted on your site, however, would depend on your involvement with the content and on all of the facts presented in any particular suit.

You should read the Communications Decency Act, Section 230, to see what sort of protection a website owner has from a suit launched against the website's content. Under CDA's §230, there is an immunity offered to websites, webhosts, ISPs, for merely hosting content created and provided by others. However this immunity is not absolute and sites have been sued successfully in the past over their content.

Defamatory statements made about individuals and entities is not protected speech. Posting another's copyrighted or trademarked material on a site is (generally) not protected. Invading another's privacy can lead to lawsuits. And the list of possible suits arising from online content continues.

Very generally speaking, the person who posts another's copyrighted material (ie. photos taken by others) or who makes defamatory statements about others or who posts personal and/or confidential information about others (and this can include photos, names, addresses, phone numbers), will be the one held liable for the postings. If Andy Anderson violates Susie Smith's rights in any way, Andy Anderson would generally be held solely responsible for this content and Susie Smith's legal actions would be against him and not the site hosting Andy Anderson's postings. This, again, is very generally speaking and will not apply all of the time to all of the cases that arise from online postings.

The best advice I can offer is for you to review ALL of your website plans with an IP attorney in your area, who can help you design and implement your plans so that you can hopefully avoid the major legal problems that can arise from the type of website you are envisioning.

It is also wise to take out liability insurance, to ensure your site is covered adequately by insurance should you find yourself named as a defendant in a suit. Even if your site is ultimately found by a court to have no liability, this does not prevent the costs you must incur to defend against any suit that is leveled against you and your website.

Good luck.

 

[rynmccn]

Thank you very much for the advice.

Lets say Andy wanted to use this site as a sort of Dating resume. That he wanted to post his entire "career" in the dating field.

Andy Anderson:

Dated "Betty Baker" from March 2002-December 2002

Dated "Linda Ling" from September 2003-June 2004

Dated "Monica Mathis" from August 2005-September 2006

Would he be allowed to post pictures taken of the women? (pictures that he took) What is the limit of identifiable information he could provide about the women? (i.e. birth date, city of residence, etc).

My intent wouldn't be to allow the subscriber to write any reviews. The intent would almost be a family tree of sorts. I imagine that it's not illegal to say that I dated someone, and provide the timeframe in which I dated them. This would all be without the other person's knowledge or consent. If it is public information anyway, how could they sue?

Side question:

Is a hosting website liable for any private messages sent between subscribers? Would that be the same as yahoo not being liable for an email sent from one person to another?

 

[quincy]

First let me say that there is nothing that can prevent a person from suing another person (or a website) if they want to, even if a suit has no merit. Therefore, if Betty, Linda or Monica take exception to being linked to Andy in any way, regardless of what is posted about them, they can sue Andy, and they can include your website in the suit, too. Just because.

Posting pictures of other people without their permission, and posting personal (even if not private) information about other people without their permission, can tick these people off. Even when the information provided is considered "public" information, posting it online under certain circumstances can lead to invasion of privacy actions (false light/misappropriation/private facts/intrusion) or defamation actions or a host of other actions. It really depends on the content and the context for this content and how litigious a person is.

People are becoming more conscious about what is posted about them online, as schools and employers now regularly search the internet for information about applicants or candidates for a job. What is turned up on a search can determine whether a person is passed over or not for an available position. It is potentially possible that a link to your site and/or information posted on your site about a person could be detrimental to that person.

In other words, there is no easy answer to your questions about what can be posted safely about another person. Everything depends on the specific facts presented.

Private messages could potentially be fodder for a lawsuit, depending on the content of the message. If Andy were to private message Betty with defamatory statements about Monica, and Betty informs Monica or others about what was said by Andy, then Andy could be sued by Monica for defamation. The website would probably not be held liable for this communication - but that does not prevent Monica from naming the website as co-defendant in her suit anyway.

Obviously not all sites are going to be sued over their content, and not all individuals who post on a site are going to be sued over what they post - because lawsuits are expensive to pursue and meritless suits have no merit . Publishing publicly available information carries less risk certainly than publishing private facts. Risks exist, however, whenever you write about other individuals without their permission or publish photos of these individuals without their permission. How great these risks are will depend on exactly what is written, where it is written, and why it is written - and what harm results from this.

That is why it is best to sit down with an attorney in your area and review your website plans, and go over all of the risks you may face so you are better able to address them should you find yourself having to address them - and then to have insurance enough to cover your site should someone decide to sue.

 

[rynmccn]

Wow

I never realized how much went into the legal side of web design. I really appreciate you for taking the time to respond with such well thought out and articulated comments. Maybe I'll just stick to my day job...lol.