It's Like Suing Somebody For Standing Next To You
Appropriately put by Mike Masnick on techdirt -- "from the wtf dept":
A class action lawsuit has been launched by a small group of Yelp reviewers, trying to make the (laughable and ridiculous) case that reviewers on the site are actually unpaid employees who are now demanding compensation. It appears that they're hoping the recent success of a few lawsuits involving "unpaid internships" will now carry over to user-generated content sites as well. To put it mildly, this is incredibly stupid.Nothing about the relationship of a Yelp reviewer to the company is anything like an employment situation (or even an intern situation). They aren't "hired." They don't have responsibilities or jobs that they have to do. They volunteer to share some reviews because they want to do so. Everyone has their own motivations for why, but the idea that it's some sort of unpaid employment situation is ludicrous. The entire argument seems to hinge on the idea that Yelp gets value out of their reviews. Well, duh. But that doesn't make it an employment situation at all.
via @overlawyered
Well, if that works we should all get together and sue Advice Goddess Blog.
Ken R at October 28, 2013 10:26 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2013/10/29/its_like_suing.html#comment-4012971">comment from Ken RMy recent favorite is a spammer writing to ask me to remove their link. Perhaps he can join your suit!
Amy Alkon at October 28, 2013 11:12 PM
They do realize that if they want to get paid for writing reviews, the next logical step is to require them to pay to read the reviews, right?
Jenny Had A Chance at October 29, 2013 2:41 AM
All the defendants need to do is present this. Old, but prescient.
http://www.shirky.com/writings/herecomeseverybody/information_price.html
Ltw at October 29, 2013 11:09 PM
Gee, why don't we jump to the part where the Government lets us print our own money.
DaveG at October 30, 2013 7:11 AM
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