Is my website illegal / defamatory ? (UK Law)?

Question

I worked for a movie producer who never paid me.
I registered his name as a website to warn others of my experience.
His lawyers claim I am breaking the law.
I dont want to remove the website, but I am willing to make changes to the text if required.

Can anyone analyse my website and tell me what (if anything) I should change to keep it legal?
the site is at www.allanniblo.com
Thanks for looking.

Answer 1

You have stated 'Your opinion, and 'what you believe'.
You are legally allowed to hold whatever opinions, you happen to have, and you may advertise that fact.
What you have been careful NOT to do is directly accuse him of what you believe. I saw nothing for which you could be charged for defamation of character.
Two concerns; the website address, I think you are okay with this because you are clearly not forging his own website, should he have one, you are not pretending it is his website.
If he were to challenge any statements you make you need to have the evidence to counter his claim with, any contract you have must be in line with your claims.
But assuming these things are in place I see no real problem with the website.

Answer 2

There are a few legal issues here and without clarification from you it's difficult to understand exactly what they may be. However, from what you've said the following could be derived:

1) Registering the domain name as Niblo's name.

2) Defamation

Understand that I'm not giving you legal advice here, simply telling it as I see it!

1) Rules regarding the internet are generally sketchy, so bear this in mind! There are laws in the US about Registering a domain name of a famous individual (Consumer Protection Act 1999) but only where your intention is to sell it on for a profit. If Niblo is living in the US then this may be worth thinking about. Of course, the burden of proof would be on him to prove that this was your intention. In the UK the main issue with domain name 'rights' are to do with trademarks and not individuals names. In this sense, there doesn't seem to be a case for Niblo to demand the domain name rights.

2) Defamation: Niblo would have to prove that the website was capable of bearing a defamatory meaning as libel (i.e. could cause a loss of reputation or money for example). It would be up to you to prove that what you said was substantially true.

Using the title "DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN" indicates that Niblo is untrustworthy. This is perhaps the obvious defamatory comment.

To some extent by using "I believe" and "In my opinion" in your statements, you are simply stating your opinion and obviously this is seen as freedom of speech. This would form the basis of your defence. There is however a strong bias in the UK system towards protecting an individual's reputation and this may not necessarily protect that freedom of speech.

In summary, I'd be suprised if Niblo would even attempt to take any sort of legal action against you and I suggest you ask his lawyers which law(s) you are breaking. However, you should review your comment "Allan Niblo has repeatedly refused to honour my contract" as the contract may have been made with Vertigo Films and not Niblo. Again, I would suggest you remove the line "Do not trust this man" for the reason I noted above.

The most obvious way to solve your problem would be to find a solicitor and claim breach of contract. You could even claim your legal costs back.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

After looking at your website - it do not think the lawyers have a case. As long as all the facts you give are completely true - even stupid things that are facutal errors could turn your case around.
A fair comment based on facts are not libel. But, as you are prejudiced (naturally) in your view of him, the fair comment defence cannot be used in this case.
Questions you need to ask yourself - is it Allan Niblo's fault that you haven't recieved payment? If he's not personally responsible for you not being paid - you are in fact libellous in your statements. Saying someone is a thief is a strong statement - and you need to have sufficient proof to back that up in court. Remember that YOU need to prove that the statement is TRUE - not the other way around. Proving something to be true is much more difficult than saying it isn't.
There are pitfalls so i reccomend you to look at McNae's Law for Journalists. The chapter on libel is easy and comprehensible. You can be pretty nasty to people as long as you follow the rules.
Go get the bastards! And don't listen to the lawyers - they're only trying to make you scared!

Answer 4

I feel that you went rather too far in calling the man a liar and a thief, whether or not this is the case. You should have tempered your language and simply related the facts for other people to draw their conclusions. As you are looking for suggestions:

Put it in question form. Ask: Would you trust a man who employed workers for seven long weeks, during which they worked hard and in good faith and at the end of it all were not paid a cent?
Could you ever trust a word a man said when having promised you that when the film was distributed you would be paid what was due to you he simply pocketed his rich rewards and paid nothing to those who had worked hard and faithfully to make the film a success?
Would you ever want to have anything to do with a company which acted in such a despicable manner towards its employees?

These questions do not have the same punch as what you wrote, but they are not, as far as I understand it, defamatory.

It would be strange indeed if a man too shabby to pay employees would be prepared to stump up for an expensive defamation action. He could be bluffing.

Perhaps you could write to Inland Revenue and tell them that if this company is lodging tax returns showing payments to employees as disbursements, then there's some cheating afoot. It won't get you paid, but it could alert them to what is going on and your former employee could find himself exposed to an uncomfortable degree of scrutiny.

Presumably you people didn't sign contracts, so you won't be able to sue this fellow for breach of contract. Pity. Big pity.

Answer 5

This could be ideal. If he is unhappy with your website, he can take you to court and sue for libel. He then has to prove you committed libel. If he can not do this (ie. you have the proof he owes you this money) then it will be thrown out of court and he will have to pay costs. You then counter sue him for yourself and indeed even file a class action suit against him for reneging on all the participant's contracts.

Answer 6

Speaking as a non-lawyer, I think you are allowed to say things as long as you can prove them to be true. If you are 100% sure you can prove the things you say (i.e. with bits of paper), then why not say them? But try to get it cleared with a lawyer first.

If what you say is true, you are doing well by bringing it to people's attention.

Answer 7

How about taking personal and non factual comments away and just tell the story how it happenend. Everyone can then decide for themselves what to make of it.

Answer 8

i think you should get your name off it!! and make sure payment for the domain name etc cant be traced to you. He has not been proven a liar in a court of law therefore this is liable.

Answer 9

photoshop an image of him raping an animal, this is perfectly legal

Answer 10

I do think you should remove it as it is slander. Just be very careful