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1) Why was The Black Book created?
At first glance it may be hard to see, but tbb was created to help people make better decisions. Lets look at a quick example:
Jimmy is a college student who's currently dating a couple different girls. Both girls are attractive and he's having a hard time deciding which girl he wants to have a more serious relationship with, when he remembers hearing about The Black Book. He looks up both girls, and notices one girl has a couple reviews saying she has herpies, and the other has a couple reviews saying she can deep-throat and is a freak in the sheets.
We've just helped lil' Jimmy make a much better decision, and possibly prevented something terrible from being further spread.
2) Couldn't people just write fake reviews about how great they are?
It depends, it's possible just like how there are fake profiles on your favorite social networking sites. Every submitted review is seen at some point by us; if we find it suspicious or fake, we delete it. Multiple reviews on one person submitted by the same user will get deleted, and the user may be banned. Each review also has truth points assigned to it, so users may give or take away points to help alert the community of fake reviews.
3) My picture is posted on The Black Book without my permission! Isn't that illegal?
No its usually not illegal, but it can be. There are two laws that need to be looked at, one is the "right of publicity," the other is freedom of speech.
The "right of publicity" generally gives a person the right to control how, when, and where their name and image is being used for commercial purposes. Also, the person has a right of privacy (basically, the right to NOT allow a particular use of the individual's name or image). In states like California, the "right of publicity" has been written into a statute like the California Civil Code § 3344 which says, in part:
"3344. (a) Any person who knowingly uses anothers name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness, in any manner, on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods or services, without such person’s prior consent, or, in the case of a minor, the prior consent of his parent or legal guardian, shall be liable for any damages sustained by the person or persons injured as a result thereof."
In a nutshell, if you want to use the names or pictures of someone, you have to get their permission. This again, is "right of publicity." Some states don't have laws like this, but the courts will usually recognize a "common law" publicity right which is essentially the same thing.
BUT, thanks to this free country we live in, the "right of publicity" is subject to a major exception, which is the First Amendment right to free speech. The "right of publicity" DOES NOT apply to uses such as reporting "news" or "public affairs." California's laws expressly recognize this limitation as per Civil Code § 3344(d):
(d) For purposes of this section, a use of a name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness in connection with any news, public affairs, or sports broadcast or account, or any political campaign, shall not constitute a use for which consent is required under subdivision (a).
In this context "news" and "public affairs" are pretty vague and mean basically anything of public interest. This can be considered anything from information about a celebrity, President of the United States, or any average Joe. Essentially, if there's anything discussing an issue of public interest no matter how small, it is EXEMPT from the "right of publicity." This is why your favorite news stations or websites are allowed to post pictures, names, etc of someone without permission from the person.
4) What about minors? You need consent from their parents!
UNTRUE. It's a common misconception that law prohibits showing of minors without parental consent; THIS IS FALSE. Minors have the same publicity rights as adults. Just because someone is under the age of 18 doesn't mean that posting their pictures is illegal.
Pictures that involve nudity or sex are a different story, and any content of such should be reported immediately for removal. The Black Book team also moderates content and does its best to prevent illegal material from being posted.
5) Someone wrote a review about me that is full of false info! That's defamation/libel/slander!
As a basic rule, opinions are NEVER defamatory.
Thanks to the glorious First Amendment, everyone has the right to express their opinions freely without fear of punishment. Because of this, opinions cannot form the basis of a defamation claim no matter what is said. There are some gray areas of the law, but just be aware that a statement cannot be defamatory unless it contains a false statement of FACT, and even then, if someone makes a statement which may appear to be a fact, but is intended as an opinion, joke, or exaggeration, then courts will usually consider those statements opinion. A quick search will bring up plenty of examples of this. All reviews submitted on The Black Book are the writers personal opinion, as stated on the review form.
Also, not every false statement of fact is defamatory. In order to be considered defamatory, a statement must be factual and it must be of a nature that harms the reputation of the person.
Finally, even if someone posts something which is false and defamatory, you usually cannot sue The Black Book for publishing it. Why? Check into a law called the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(1).
To save you time, this law basically says that if you are the operator of an "interactive website," you cannot be held liable for anything that is posted on the site by users. If we personally wrote something on The Black Book, we would be responsible for our words. However if you were to post something, we are not responsible for what you say.
All reviews have a "Report Abuse" link at the bottom. If you feel any of the content violates a law or should be removed, click the link and one of us will review the post for illegal content and determine if it should be removed.
Again, we hope The Black Book helps you make better decisions! Enjoy :)
At first glance it may be hard to see, but tbb was created to help people make better decisions. Lets look at a quick example:
Jimmy is a college student who's currently dating a couple different girls. Both girls are attractive and he's having a hard time deciding which girl he wants to have a more serious relationship with, when he remembers hearing about The Black Book. He looks up both girls, and notices one girl has a couple reviews saying she has herpies, and the other has a couple reviews saying she can deep-throat and is a freak in the sheets.
We've just helped lil' Jimmy make a much better decision, and possibly prevented something terrible from being further spread.
2) Couldn't people just write fake reviews about how great they are?
It depends, it's possible just like how there are fake profiles on your favorite social networking sites. Every submitted review is seen at some point by us; if we find it suspicious or fake, we delete it. Multiple reviews on one person submitted by the same user will get deleted, and the user may be banned. Each review also has truth points assigned to it, so users may give or take away points to help alert the community of fake reviews.
3) My picture is posted on The Black Book without my permission! Isn't that illegal?
No its usually not illegal, but it can be. There are two laws that need to be looked at, one is the "right of publicity," the other is freedom of speech.
The "right of publicity" generally gives a person the right to control how, when, and where their name and image is being used for commercial purposes. Also, the person has a right of privacy (basically, the right to NOT allow a particular use of the individual's name or image). In states like California, the "right of publicity" has been written into a statute like the California Civil Code § 3344 which says, in part:
"3344. (a) Any person who knowingly uses anothers name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness, in any manner, on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods or services, without such person’s prior consent, or, in the case of a minor, the prior consent of his parent or legal guardian, shall be liable for any damages sustained by the person or persons injured as a result thereof."
In a nutshell, if you want to use the names or pictures of someone, you have to get their permission. This again, is "right of publicity." Some states don't have laws like this, but the courts will usually recognize a "common law" publicity right which is essentially the same thing.
BUT, thanks to this free country we live in, the "right of publicity" is subject to a major exception, which is the First Amendment right to free speech. The "right of publicity" DOES NOT apply to uses such as reporting "news" or "public affairs." California's laws expressly recognize this limitation as per Civil Code § 3344(d):
(d) For purposes of this section, a use of a name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness in connection with any news, public affairs, or sports broadcast or account, or any political campaign, shall not constitute a use for which consent is required under subdivision (a).
In this context "news" and "public affairs" are pretty vague and mean basically anything of public interest. This can be considered anything from information about a celebrity, President of the United States, or any average Joe. Essentially, if there's anything discussing an issue of public interest no matter how small, it is EXEMPT from the "right of publicity." This is why your favorite news stations or websites are allowed to post pictures, names, etc of someone without permission from the person.
4) What about minors? You need consent from their parents!
UNTRUE. It's a common misconception that law prohibits showing of minors without parental consent; THIS IS FALSE. Minors have the same publicity rights as adults. Just because someone is under the age of 18 doesn't mean that posting their pictures is illegal.
Pictures that involve nudity or sex are a different story, and any content of such should be reported immediately for removal. The Black Book team also moderates content and does its best to prevent illegal material from being posted.
5) Someone wrote a review about me that is full of false info! That's defamation/libel/slander!
As a basic rule, opinions are NEVER defamatory.
Thanks to the glorious First Amendment, everyone has the right to express their opinions freely without fear of punishment. Because of this, opinions cannot form the basis of a defamation claim no matter what is said. There are some gray areas of the law, but just be aware that a statement cannot be defamatory unless it contains a false statement of FACT, and even then, if someone makes a statement which may appear to be a fact, but is intended as an opinion, joke, or exaggeration, then courts will usually consider those statements opinion. A quick search will bring up plenty of examples of this. All reviews submitted on The Black Book are the writers personal opinion, as stated on the review form.
Also, not every false statement of fact is defamatory. In order to be considered defamatory, a statement must be factual and it must be of a nature that harms the reputation of the person.
Finally, even if someone posts something which is false and defamatory, you usually cannot sue The Black Book for publishing it. Why? Check into a law called the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(1).
To save you time, this law basically says that if you are the operator of an "interactive website," you cannot be held liable for anything that is posted on the site by users. If we personally wrote something on The Black Book, we would be responsible for our words. However if you were to post something, we are not responsible for what you say.
All reviews have a "Report Abuse" link at the bottom. If you feel any of the content violates a law or should be removed, click the link and one of us will review the post for illegal content and determine if it should be removed.
Again, we hope The Black Book helps you make better decisions! Enjoy :)
