In the age of Tripadvisor, Yelp and other popular online review and complaint sites, postings (often anonymous) can seriously damage the online reputation of businesses from Main Street to Wall Street.  What can you do if you are the victim of libel or slander against your business?

False statements of fact about a person that are printed, broadcast, spoken or communicated to others are usually characterized as libel or slander.  Libel typically refers to written statements or visual depictions, while slander refers to verbal statements and gestures.

It is possible to sue an author of a defamatory post for libel.  First, you will need to file a lawsuit against the author or “John Doe” – the unnamed author.  Then you must seek a subpoena to obtain the identity (e.g., name and IP address) of the author, if unknown.  Finally, you must obtain a court order that the post is false or defamatory.  You may receive monetary damages (including the potential for punitive damages) and an injunction for the webmaster to remove the offending material.

If this sounds like a time-consuming and expensive venture, fraught with risk and the potential for more bad publicity, it is. [Read more…]