Blog publisher liability
The Paris District Court ruled on 13 October 2008, in a case where the publisher of the blog Echecs 64, le Blog Echecs de C. Bouton accessible from the website 20 minutes.fr, as well as the publisher of the 20 minutes.fr website and the company 20 minutes (website owner and editor) had a suit brought against them for defamation.
The remarks referred to various offenses the plaintiffs were said to have committed and which were said to have given rise to their being investigated and subject to judicial review.
While the claim of defamation was admitted by the Paris District Court, the liability of the 20 minutes.fr website publisher and that of the company was set aside because the blog content did not result from any editorial choice on the part of the 20 minutes company and the 20 minutes.fr publisher. In this way, the 20 minutes company was characterized as the Internet host of this blog. In accordance with Article 6.1.2 of the LCEN, the legal liability of an Internet host can be involved only if it is aware of the unlawful character of the activities or information stored or of facts and circumstances bringing out such character and that it did not act promptly to withdrawal this data or to make access to it impossible. The 20 minutes company and the publisher of its site were therefore not subject to court orders.
On the other hand, the blog publisher who is also the author of the remarks was ordered:
- to pay 2500 euros to the plaintiffs in damages; and
- to publish an announcement on his blog.
Anne-Katel Martineau,
Attorney- Member of the Paris Bar