I've yet to read the decision, but it looks to be an interesting one. The court's press release (here), which provides a useful overview for those not wishing to read the full decision, describes the outcome as:
"Victims of infringements of personality rights by means of the internet may bring actions before the courts of the Member State in which they reside in respect of all of the damage caused. However, the operator of an internet website covered by the e-commerce directive cannot be made subject, in that State, to stricter requirements than those provided for by the law of the Member State in which it is established."
Fortunately - in my opinion - the UK does not (yet?) recognise a "personality right."
Yes this is an interesting case;
ReplyDeleteIt is true that the UK does not yet recognize "personality right", but the new legislation, when implemented by other EU state-members, allows individuals to sue UK publishers outside the UK.
"Individuals can sue internet publishers in each country in which they believe their image has been harmed as a result of content posted online"
…and
"The French case involved French actor Oliver Martinez who had sued the UK's Sunday Mirror in a French court over a story about his relationship with Australian singer Kylie Minogue."
also see http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2011/october/internet-publishers-liable-for-privacy-invasion-in-each-country-material-is-accessible-ecj-rules/
It goes back to one of the central problems of Internet regulation - which laws should apply. Require a claimant to sue under the laws of the country in which the server resides, and deny them remedies which they would have under their local law, even though the effects of the actions are very much felt in that home jurisdiction, or else allow individuals to sue foreign hosts in their home jurisdictions, rendering the hosts liable to laws that they may never have known about - to run a website, must one know the laws of every single country in which the website is accessible? If we proceed with such a legalistic approach as the latter, I would be amazed if we continue to see much innovation in the online services arena, outside big companies with significant legal budgets...
ReplyDelete