Legal Question in Technology Law in New Jersey
Hello, I run a blog that pokes fun at Infomercials, scams and the folks that run them. I recently upset one particular guy who sent me an email simply marked "Hey bob" in the subject. When I opened it up, he had the following warning at the top and at the bottom of the email as well as a direct warning in the content: "Privileged and confidential. Not for distribution. No part of this may be reprinted without express written consent. � 2010 Josh Bezoni".
It went on to threaten me with legal actions if I didn't remove a post I did. I complied.
But my question is: can someone copyright the content of an email and keep the recipient from plastering it all over cable news if so desired by the recipient. It' smy inbox, my house and now my letter. Doen's the author give up all writes to privacy. In this particulalr case, he is saying "i'm threatening you and you better not tell anybody or else mister!"
I'm really interested in your take on this! Thanks!
2 Answers from Attorneys
all of it sounds like nonsense. however, you should get the opinion of a lawyer who handles freedom of the press issues, and I am just giving you my off the cuff, not at all expert opinion. just one man's opinion.
I doubt that a court would enforce a copyright on that content bur you can avoid the copyright issue entirely if you just paraphrase the email (as you just did). Copyright does not protect ideas; it protects the expression of ideas. So, you can fairly report that a threat was made. You can probably even extract and reprint segments of the email under the Fair Use Doctrine. � See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm
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