Libel Liability

[yinyang]

Well, I'm thinking about putting up another forum. This time, it will be a place to dish out info and give experiences on people others have worked with. However, this is where it gets tricky.

How liable are we if our members bash another person and give real names? I've heard conflicting preventitive measures and was wondering what you guys think?

1) If we prominently state that we do not "edit" and are not responsible for our posters content, does that do anything?

2) From what i read, it all boils down to a definition of Publisher and Distributor. I believe forums should be held as a "distributor", but since we have the ability to edit or delete, I think courts view us as more of a "publisher".

So, what if I prevent any editing or deleting in the forums, period. Will I add a layer of liability protection?

3) What else can be done?

[Corriewf]

Thank you Jelsoft!

Although the administrators and moderators of Saltcreep.com will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this forum, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of Saltcreep.com, nor Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message.

By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-orientated, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws.

By default this is in the registration agreement and is agreed by everyone that registers.

[yinyang]

Originally Posted by corriewf

Thank you Jelsoft!

Although the administrators and moderators of Saltcreep.com will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this forum, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of Saltcreep.com, nor Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message.

By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-orientated, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws.

By default this is in the registration agreement and is agreed by everyone that registers.

but does that keep you free from actual liability? the US is highly litigious and we all know that any and all disclaimers can be thwarted in a court of law. i know there's no absolute answer, but there can be some layers of protection.

corriewf, i think your example is an excellent first layer of protection, because of which, I will definitely put a disclaimer on.

but is there a second or third layer? perhaps something, like a phrase that's similar to a more lengthy disclaimer, that appears on every page?

[Corriewf]

Originally Posted by yinyang

but does that keep you free from actual liability? the US is highly litigious and we all know that any and all disclaimers can be thwarted in a court of law. i know there's no absolute answer, but there can be some layers of protection.

corriewf, i think your example is an excellent first layer of protection, because of which, I will definitely put a disclaimer on.

but is there a second or third layer? perhaps something, like a phrase that's similar to a more lengthy disclaimer, that appears on every page?

At some point it becomes redundant and discourages your members. They have to hit the box saying that they have read the rules when they register. That and maybe a sticky somewhere is all you need.