Wikipedia Cleared of Defamation

NBC Bay Area ^ | Fri, Aug 7, 2009 | Jackson

[nickcarraway]

Lawyer for parent foundation worried about impact of recently dismissed lawsuit

Literary agent Barbara Bauer wasn't happy about being called the "dumbest" of agents on a list title "20 Worst Literary Agents" posted to Wikipedia.

So Bauer sued the San Francisco-based Wikimedia Foundation, which oversees the website, for defamation -- even though an unaffiliated user of the online encylopedia was ultimately reponsible for creating and posting the item.

The case was dismissed by Judge James Perri of New Jersey's Superior Court based on the US Communications Decency Act's immunity from liability afforded to operators of online services. And as a University of Santa Clara law professor pointed out, Bauer may have simply proven the poster's point in filing the suit. However, a lawyer for the Wikimedia Foundation, Mike Godwin, took the lawsuit seriously, and mandated that the article, since deleted and replaced by a shorter version, not reappear.

Godwin should know better -- after all, he was the sage who noted that "As [an online] discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

In other words, according to Godwin's Law, defamation is practically built into the system -- hence the liability exemption.

[nickcarraway]

Wouldn't she have to prove that she is not the dumbest literary agent?

[Perdogg]

Generally, insults are not considered defamation. It has to be a statement of fact. Dumb is a subjective quality.

[nickcarraway]

I think the fact she filed this lawsuit means it’s no longer subjective.

[Perdogg]

LOL!

[Carley]

Wiki is hardly a reliable source.

They have a biography of an infamous relative of mine........married to the wrong woman.

Who know where they got the incorrect information. But there it is.

[TChad]

I linked below to the "Writer Beware" page from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America website. It contains a list of the 20 agencies that generated the most complaints from writers. Barbara Bauer's agency is on the list.

WRITER BEWARE'S THUMBS DOWN AGENCY LIST

Agencies had to be more than just dumb to make this list. Perhaps the Wikipedia list was different.

[altair]

Wouldn't she have to prove that she is not the dumbest literary agent?

She's already proven it. She should have done what anyone else would have done - paid people to edit things her way. That's only half sarcastic.

Since Wikipedia is such a low quality source of information (everything on it that I can verify from first hand knowledge is wrong), she probably should have used it to her advantage and worn her designation as a badge of honor.