On 15/11/2007, William Pietri
<william(a)scissor.com> wrote:
But for controversial edits, we individual
editors are the ones with
primary legal responsibility. So I think we editors have to discuss
these things. And the open nature of our project means we must discuss
them in the open.
Depends. For a UK based editor writing about litigous people in the
UK, my advice (as a somewhat knowledgeable non-lawyer) is: avoid.
Leave the hell alone. Let the Americans deal with it, we have many
good BLP editors in the US. Don't even TOUCH the article lest you get
some liability stuck to you. It sucks, but it's reality under the UK's
horrible horrible libel laws
Oh, I agree. Your paragraph above is a great example of exactly the kind
of discussion I think we should be having.
Of course, the reach of British libel law may extend even to the US:
US editors can be sued in Britain, and defending a suit would be an
expensive and painful proposition. And even if you win a lawsuit like
that, legal victories are frequently Pyrrhic ones.
William
--
William Pietri <william(a)scissor.com>