On Thursday, May 1, 2003, at 10:24 AM, Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. wrote:
> So my question is: if we came into possession of evidence of
> someone selling the usernames/addresses of another mailing list
> (_your_ mailing list) would you, as a list manager, be interested in
> pursuing legal action against the list broker?
My first question is, what is the legal theory and cause of action?
Absent specific data privacy laws, as in the EU, a list of names and
email addresses does not seem to me to be, prima facie, protectible.
It's not copyrightable (it would fail the original work of authorship
subject matter test, especially since the demise of the "sweat of the
brow" doctrine); it's not a trade secret since it's (a) not typically
secret, (b) not disclosed under NDA-ish rules, and (c) is in most cases
not involved in a trade or business; and none of the common-law unfair
competition (etc.) laws would seem to apply.
I personally do not claim any proprietary rights in the lists I run; I
believe compilation copyrights of the contents, even where claimed, are
exceptionally weak and may be nonexistent in the case of automatically
generated digests and archives; and I don't claim any rights in the
compilation of list of subscribed addresses, which in the case of most
lists using list server software, is automatically and mechanically
generated in any case.
Let's just say that if I had a choice of representing the plaintiff or
defendant on a contingency fee basis here, I'd pick the defendant.
--
Michael C. Berch, Esq.
mcb@postmodern.com / mcb@greatcircle.com
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