Celebrity Information

[SamAdams]

What is the name of your state? Indiana

Hello All,

This forum is great btw. I think this is a great way to bring law to the law-deficient people. Also, do you attorneys do this as a public service to add to your resume...because if so...that's great.

On to business...

Q: Let's say a person stumbled on some celebrity's(someone worth a crap) personal information such as a phone number or email address and decided to sell it on eBay for the financial gain of a middle class man. What litigation could such a person face or what might that person want to know before doing something as such? Spare me Ethics 101 not pertaining to law please.

*Note - Keep in mind that the information will be sold to one person only, with some sort of disclaimer.

Please briefly state your level of education in law and any other information that may credit your input on this question, as uneducated guesses will be ignored from say...a person with only a Journalism Degree.

Thank You

 

[racer72]

Please briefly state your level of education in law and any other information that may credit your input on this question, as uneducated guesses will be ignored from say...a person with only a Journalism Degree.

The folks that answer questions in these forums do it for free and volunteer to do so. We sure in the hell are not going to qualify any responses by stating any qualifications. If you want an answer to your question from someone with qualifications satisfactory to you, open up your wallet and go pay an attorney with a sheepskin hanging on the wall. You want legal advice on the cheap, you are going to get what you pay for.

 

[GulfBreeze]

What is the name of your state? Indiana

Hello All,

This forum is great btw. I think this is a great way to bring law to the law-deficient people. Also, do you attorneys do this as a public service to add to your resume...because if so...that's great.

On to business...

Q: Let's say a person stumbled on some celebrity's(someone worth a crap) personal information such as a phone number or email address and decided to sell it on eBay for the financial gain of a middle class man. What litigation could such a person face or what might that person want to know before doing something as such? Spare me Ethics 101 not pertaining to law please.

*Note - Keep in mind that the information will be sold to one person only, with some sort of disclaimer.

Please briefly state your level of education in law and any other information that may credit your input on this question, as uneducated guesses will be ignored from say...a person with only a Journalism Degree.

Thank You

lets say.....WHAT IF:

we were to stumble on to your personal private info such as your name and address/phone number. Would I be entitled to sell it to anyone here so they could find you? Would you be upset if I did that?

 

[xylene]

lets say.....WHAT IF:

we were to stumble on to your personal private info such as your name and address/phone number. Would I be entitled to sell it to anyone here so they could find you? Would you be upset if I did that?

You forgot your legal title!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? Indiana

Hello All,

This forum is great btw. I think this is a great way to bring law to the law-deficient people. Also, do you attorneys do this as a public service to add to your resume...because if so...that's great.

On to business...

Q: Let's say a person stumbled on some celebrity's(someone worth a crap) personal information such as a phone number or email address and decided to sell it on eBay for the financial gain of a middle class man. What litigation could such a person face or what might that person want to know before doing something as such? Spare me Ethics 101 not pertaining to law please.

*Note - Keep in mind that the information will be sold to one person only, with some sort of disclaimer.

Please briefly state your level of education in law and any other information that may credit your input on this question, as uneducated guesses will be ignored from say...a person with only a Journalism Degree.

Thank You

**A: read my profile.

 

[tranquility]

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express and I think what the OP proposes would be a public disclosure of private information and would be liable for damages.

 

[quincy]

Rats.
I know the answer, too.

 

[Wanda June]

What is the name of your state? Indiana

Hello All,

This forum is great btw. I think this is a great way to bring law to the law-deficient people. Also, do you attorneys do this as a public service to add to your resume...because if so...that's great.

On to business...

Q: Let's say a person stumbled on some celebrity's(someone worth a crap) personal information such as a phone number or email address and decided to sell it on eBay for the financial gain of a middle class man. What litigation could such a person face or what might that person want to know before doing something as such? Spare me Ethics 101 not pertaining to law please.

*Note - Keep in mind that the information will be sold to one person only, with some sort of disclaimer.

Please briefly state your level of education in law and any other information that may credit your input on this question, as uneducated guesses will be ignored from say...a person with only a Journalism Degree.

Thank You

I once passed a bar exam. (actually it was in a saloon, but I feel that's close enough to be being a bar). Would that be sufficient?

 

[SamAdams]

I simply requested some credentials which many people request when seeking legal counsel and just out of interest. My example of the "Journalism Major", although arguable, is an example of perhaps how the Media is 20% reporting and 80% analyzing stories and subjects based on a journalism degree or the lack there of, which gives little or no credit to an opinion or analysis... in MY opinion. See the correlation of what my intent is? Everyone's opinion is valuable, however obviously, I will value someone else's opinion more based on...education and experience. I think that is a reasonable request.

I'm new to this Forum and I greeted everyone and did not intentionally mean to be rude, but I still stand by my first post. Free or not, attorneys and other legal gurus are constantly asked their credentials and most of them are proud to share them. I really didn't think that would be an issue to take an extra 10 seconds to do so, so that I can weigh opinions based on education and experience. I guess looking for credible sources is a problem these days, please let me know where I went wrong.

Can we please stick to the subject and not turn this into a 'common forum debate' off topic based on a misunderstanding. Please refer to original post with intellect and not emotion. I do apologize for any misconception, and lets keep the flaming to a minimum, as I feel I addressed this forum respectfully.

Thank you for your time

*To those that responded without anguish:

Two of you responded sort of the same, talking about disclosure of personal information, or the sale of...Don't many companies do this daily which results in credit card applications via mail, spam, coupons, phone solicitations, etc? I understand that by using their service or products constitutes some sort of ability to do this but is it not still kind of the same regardless of how someone found the celebrities information. Furthermore, what about paparazzi, and others who exploit celebrities and their personal info and lives all the time?

 

[Just Blue]

Furthermore, what about paparazzi, and others who exploit celebrities and their personal info and lives all the time?

Paparazzi are sued ALL the time...The difference between you and the National Enquirer is that rag has a big legal dept.....

 

[>Charlotte<]

Yes, people can and do ask for credentials but it's not about taking ten seconds to provide them for you. It's about being told "I need you to devote a certain amount of your time to giving me free legal advice, but before I accept your help you need to prove your worthiness to me." Yeah, people are going to pretty much show you the door if you're that obnoxious.

To answer your question, however: J. D. from Cornell and then my J. S. D. from Yale. I was a member of the Yale Political Union, and clerked for a United States District Court of Appeals judge. I am currently in private practice with a specialty in Family Law.

By the way, there's a flaw in your logic.

 

[JustAPal00]

Yes, people can and do ask for credentials but it's not about taking ten seconds to provide them for you. It's about being told "I need you to devote a certain amount of your time to giving me free legal advice, but before I accept your help you need to prove your worthiness to me." Yeah, people are going to pretty much show you the door if you're that obnoxious.

To answer your question, however: J. D. from Cornell and then my J. S. D. from Yale. I was a member of the Yale Political Union, and clerked for a United States District Court of Appeals judge. I am currently in private practice with a specialty in Family Law.

By the way, there's a flaw in your logic.

Were you at Yale when I was?

 

[SamAdams]

You sir are making things up, putting words in my mouth, and twisting around my implications.

It's about being TOLD "I need you to devote a certain amount of your time to giving me free legal advice..."

Please briefly state your level of education in law and any other information that may credit your input on this question

I politely requested, not "obnoxiously" commanded. Then you say "to answer your QUESTION..." in reference to me "TELLING YOU" to devote your time. Which is it? Did I ask or tell? Because usually when someone uses the word "please" it politely begins or ends a REQUEST. Please stop reaching and twisting around my words I already explained my intent which is opposite of what youre attempting to illustrate.

By the way, there's a flaw in your logic.

Um, Okay...

This is the 'common off topic forum debate' I was talking about. I already addressed the issue of the misinterpretation of my post. Again, can we please stick to the topic and stop flaming.

 

[GulfBreeze]

Paparazzi are sued ALL the time...The difference between you and the National Enquirer is that rag has a big legal dept.....

plus...they chalk up the monetary loss as extra publicity (like paid advertisement)

 

[tranquility]

Back at the Holiday Inn, the manager told me there were four tort categories related to the right to privacy. Appropriation, unreasonable intrusion, public disclosure of private facts and false light in the public eye. We went over each of those in some detail and you'll have to stay at the Holiday Inn to understand those. He also mentioned I could let people know those things used as search terms on Google might provide further information.

The housekeeper there told me that a person would have to be either gutsy or a fool to claim he was an attorney in a public forum such as this. The risk of malpractice when one does not have access to all the facts is great, and the unauthorized practice of law for questions from people in states other than the ones licensed in could be a factor too. Many put a disclaimer when they write to groups like this explaining they are not giving legal advice and anyone reading things is not their client. Now, there aren't any cases against those making such claims yet, but all it takes is one yahoo on the interwebs to get a bug in her bonnet to make life difficult for an attorney or his malpractice carrier. This may suprise you, but there are some yahoos out there--some of who even write to this forum. A safer course is to not claim anything other than res ipsa loquiter and let the answer one provides speak for itself.

But then again, she was just a housekeeper. We can't know if her advice was correct or not.