Arianna Huffington Sued For 'Stealing' The Idea For The Huffington Post
from the you-can't-steal-ideas dept
Apparently two political consultants, Peter Daou and James Boyce, thought they had a deal back in 2004 to help create a blogging site with Arianna Huffington and Ken Lerer -- and they're now suing both of them for "idea misappropriation" over the Huffington Post. The whole filing is quite a read:Also quite damning is the fact that the lawsuit is being filed more than 5 years after the events took place. Daou and Boyce try to explain this away by claiming that a public legal fight would hurt their ability to get other work, which doesn't really make much sense. On top of that Daou and Boyce have been regular contributors to The Huffington Post. In the lawsuit, they suggest that they still wanted it to be a success and hoped that Huffington and Lerer would make things right. It's difficult to see this court case getting very far, but it may scare people off from having any conversations with Daou or Boyce about potentially working together on any kind of project, as it seems they might sue you in the future if you don't automatically cut them in on it if you decide to go off and do it on your own.
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Filed Under: arianna huffington, execution, ideas, james boyce, peter daou
Companies: huffington post
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Oh gods
Oh wait, everybody else on the net at the time did too.
If it wasn't for these buggers who up and done it, WE'D have done it. Probably. At some point.
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You mean "oral" contract
"prove that there was any official verbal contract at work here. "
Any contract that uses words is verbal. Both oral and written contracts are verbal. An oral contract is one that is spoken rather than written down.
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Re: You mean "oral" contract
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Re: You mean "oral" contract
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Re: Re: You mean "oral" contract
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Re: Re: You mean "oral" contract
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Re: Re: You mean "oral" contract
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Re: Re: Re: You mean "oral" contract
She had a different view.
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As for "idea", your article is remiss in not noting that the work allegedly done by the two plaintiffs was far, far more advanced than you appear prepared to give credit.
BTW, verbal contracts are just fine (Statute of Frauds does not apply here) for the formation of a Joint Venture, and breach of a fiduciary duty, as is owed by each joint venturer to the others, is a serious matter.
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Good
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Re: Good
ends justify the means? if you dont like it, dont read it. if you believe it to be lies, start your own site in order to offer proof that its all lies.
quite honestly, the idea of "i hate them so bring them down by any means possible" is bottom of the barrel thinking and every bit as underhanded as what RIAA, MPAA, et al. do... you really want to be thought of in the same light as them?
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Re: Good
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Grammar Nazi
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I can't say I blame him
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Daou and Boyce
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Huffington Post suit
1. Under the Statute of Frauds, a contract covering more than a year must be in writing. I didn't see that; but IMO a verbal contract is a nullity in this case.
2. In every state I am aware of, a suit for such a thing needed to be brought within 2-4 years, even if in writing, otherwise, the Statute of Limitations likely applies.
3. An attorney, in every state I am aware of, would need to explain this to a client - of course, if the client decides to proceed anyway, it gets murky - and we need to know "Which state"?
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people steal more than you think
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