Legal action when exposing fakes for sale.

[Jerry B]

I noticed this thread on another forum where they have said that they will no longer allow members to "out" fake items or those with missleading descriptions because of fear of legal action being taken against that forum. wow.

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/fo...9#entry1819312

What they have said.

"Discussing the validity of claims made by either dealers, or other sellers, whether in their own sites, or on auction sites such as eBay about the authenticity of items offered for sale, could easily lead to posts that are legally defamatory. While posters remain responsible for their own posts, the forum would be the publisher of such posts, and therefore is potentially liable in a court of law.

Forum rules will shortly be amended to prohibit comment on items offered for sale, or on persons offering them. We regret the need for this, but a single legal action could close the forum as well as impoverishing the GWF team."

[KradSpam]

Wow.

So, what is the point of their forum then? That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen.... I'm pretty sure WRF isn't legally responsible for anything I do or say.... If a dealer has a fake item they will not want to draw attention by making any trouble, and will obviously lose in any case. And a dealer with a real item will easily be able to prove it as such. I'm not even a member there and I'm pissed off with this.

[Gunny Hartmann]

I'm lost for words!....

[Adrian Stevenson]

A very sad day. It is always the crooks who resort to sabre rattling and threats of legal action I have found.

Cheers, Ade.

[Jerry B]

Wow.

So, what is the point of their forum then?

Mostly they discuss the history of WWI and id members items etc and are not a collectors forum in the same way that Warrelics is, though they "used" to discuss items for sale and members offered opinions, though obviously not for much longer it seems.

Certainly it has shocked me and that is why I started this thread. I agree though that most sellers of dubious items will not go to court when "outed" about their dodgy wares, but the costs of fighting such an action if one was started could be more than the owners of a small forum could afford, even if eventually they won.

[davejb]

Judging by those ridiculous proposed rules, i take it we cant call Pawel Nowak a thieving, lying no good shyster scum bag shitehawk ,nor anyone else who attempts to defraud another person by stating that something is real when it obviously is'nt, oh well I take back everything I said before, note to self, be nice to fraudsters, buy their crap and dont complain, resign yourself to abandoning the very idea of free speech, oh and the fact its only libelous if the statements made are unfounded does'nt matter????

[tempelhof]

i do not think you can be sued for expressing your opinion on the authenticity of an item.

it's when people begin using insults, as sometimes happens, that is actionable.

i believe this is what they mean by "lead[ing] to posts which are defamatory".

seems like a very, very big overreaction to me.

[tempelhof]

if i say i believe something is fake, i do not think that is actionable legally.

but if i say "this guy is a thief" or "this guy rips people off" or "this guy is lying" or even "this guy sells fakes", which could be construed as saying he engages in fraud... i don't know... i'm no lawyer but it seems to me they are looking to silence critical and legitimate (legal) commentary on the authenticity of items out of fear someone might say something actionable. i am not surprised they have that fear because i see it constantly. just seems an overreaction. keep to discussion your opinion of the item and not the person selling it and you should be OK.

[tempelhof]

yeah, davejb... that's actionable... what you said. hahahaha

you can say, "that badge that Pawel Novak is selling is fake in my opinion" but if you say, "Here goes Pawel Novak again... defrauding people by selling fake badges"... I think then you could technically be sued. Because you're not only saying the badge is fake (an opinion you have a right to express) but you are saying that he is committing fraud because he KNOWS it is fake as he is selling it and that is something which you would have to prove in court to escape a libel suit and it's going to be hard to prove or disprove what he is thinking or knows at any particular point in time.

i'm not a lawyer. maybe one will come along.

[big ned]

Anyone is entitled to an opinion on an item, it's when folks start defaming a persons character that things can become a legal matter.