Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: E-mail list as intellectual property?

Yes an e-mail list can be considered intellectual property. Whether it is protected intellectual property depends on the circumstances in which the information was passed from Provider to Recipient and the relationship between Provider and Recipient. For example, e-mail lists are typically valuable if they are considered part of a particular business' clientele base. If the particular list is such that it contains value to those who know it within the business, and it is not otherwise known or available to the general public, it could be considered a trade secret. Accordingly, for example, if that information was transferred from Provider to Recipient pursuant to an employer-employee relationship for the purpose of carrying out the business of the employer, it could be deemed protected from unauthorized use by the employee (i.e. the recipient). However, if this information was simply passed along without any express or implied assumption and/or prior agreement by the parties that it was protected information (e.g. the Provider sends this information to the recipient, who has no ties to Provider subjecting him/her to a duty to protect the information) then the information would probably not be protected.

Re: E-mail list as intellectual property?

There are several types of intellectual property: trademarks for brand names, copyrights for expressions of ideas, patents for ideas, and trade secrets for confidential information. E-mail addresses are not brand names or expressions of ideas, nor are they ideas. Your facts give no indication of trade secrets.

Therefore, it is unlikely that the provider has an intellectual property claim against the recipient.

However, if you the parties had a contract about how the e-mail address information could be used, then the provider may have a BREACH OF CONTRACT action or even a FRAUD action if the recipient used the addresses in an unauthorized manner.

I am an intellectual property attorney, trial lawyer, and law school professor. Feel free to contact me if I can be of any further assistance.

Re: E-mail list as intellectual property?

You raise an interesting question that has no clear answer. Yes, there are circumstances under which e-mail addresses might be considered intellectual property. There are other circumstances where they would not.

As an example, a distinctive e-mail address might be trademarked just as any other slogan could be trademarked. As another example, a list of e-mail addresses arranged in a particular way might be subject to copyright, or might fall under the category of "trade secret" if it is a customer list belonging to a business with ongoing relationships with the e-mail addressees.

If you got your list from a friend and he/she simply doesn't want you to be contacting his/her list any longer, that may fall under the right of privacy.

What is missing from your question, and is important in determining whether there is legal protection for the "intellectual property" is the circumstances under which the recipient acquired the e-mail list from the provider. If in a business context, probably yes. If in a personal context, maybe or maybe not.

The other question to consider before contacting a lawyer is: what is the real monetary value of the list and is it worth pursuing?