Comments on: Forward an email, get sued?

By: David Schwartz

David Schwartz — Tue, 08 May 2007 23:54:49 +0000

Exactly, he’s talking about a violation of privacy. The copyright issue is relevant for a reason beyond damages — if you can show that the forwarding is a violation of copyright law, the argument that it was unreasonable and violated your expectations is virtually a slam dunk.

And I think it’s obvious to anyone who sends emails that a private email send by one person to another that contains content solely intended for that recipient is accompanied by an expectation of privacy and one that society accepts as reasonable.

By: David Nieporent

David Nieporent — Mon, 07 May 2007 19:41:10 +0000

Just to be clear to Bill and David: this professor is arguing for a cause of action beyond any claim for copyright infringement. (He recognizes that a lawsuit for copyright infringement is almost certainly hopeless, because emails are unlikely to be registered with the copyright office, which means that the only damages one can obtain are actual damages. And since it's unlikely an email has any market value, the suit is worthless.)

By: David Schwartz

David Schwartz — Sun, 06 May 2007 22:10:19 +0000

I strongly disagree with nevins comment. On the contrary, both normal rules of social protocol and copyright law create an expectation that the communication will be used in some ways but not others.

A private email sent to one person should not be posted to a public list. That’s a violation of reasonable expectations of privacy. An email sent to a public list can probably be forwarded to another public list or archived. (According to reasonable expectations, whether or not the law allows it is another question.)

There’s a large continuum. Forwarding an email can be reasonable or unreasonable, even in the absence of any prior agreement between the sender and recipient, depending upon the contents of the email and how large a distribution the sender originally reasonably expected.

By: Bill Evans

Bill Evans — Sun, 06 May 2007 05:33:46 +0000

Under current US copyright law the second you create something it is copyrighted. While you do need to file the form and send in the money to be able to sue for damages etc, The fact remains that it is considered copyrighted the second it is created.

By: nevins

nevins — Fri, 04 May 2007 20:14:21 +0000

Is there anyone left not living under a rock who believes that an e-mail they send is somehow a private affair?
When one sends an e-mail, like snail-mail, parcel post, UPS Fed-Ex, walkie-talkie, or other means of communication, there is never an expectation that the recipient will not repost the item in any manner they see fit (unless constrained by prior private contract between the parties communicating).

By: Cathy

Cathy — Fri, 04 May 2007 14:18:18 +0000

I just read about a case in England, which apparently also said that forwarding an email could be actionable - for copyright violation.