Digital Media Law Project
Published on Digital Media Law Project (https://www.dmlp.org)

Home > Duffin v. Does

Duffin v. Does [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Thu, 04/09/2009 - 19:16

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

03/01/2009

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Material Removed
Settled (partial)
Withdrawn

Location: 

California

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Defamation
False Light
Cyd Duffin, principal of Colony High School in Palmer, Alaska sued MySpace, Inc. and John Doe defendants for defamation and invasion of privacy over the posting of a fake MySpace profile, which falsely depicted her "as a drug-using racist with a sexually... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

John Does; MySpace, Inc.

Type of Party: 

Individual

Type of Party: 

Individual
Organization

Location of Party: 

  • Alaska

Location of Party: 

  • California
  • Delaware

Legal Counsel: 

Jim Kawahito
Description

Cyd Duffin, principal of Colony High School in Palmer, Alaska sued MySpace, Inc. and John Doe defendants for defamation and invasion of privacy over the posting of a fake MySpace profile, which falsely depicted her "as a drug-using racist with a sexually transmitted disease who insults disabled students and likes books about pornography, anarchy and the Ku Klux Klan," according to the Anchorage Daily News [2].  The Anchorage Daily News also reported [2] that Duffin dismissed MySpace from the case after the company agreed to cooperate by turning over records related to the creation of the fake profile.  

UPDATE:

7/14/2009 - Duffin dismissed the suit [3] after two students confessed to authoring the fake profile. Though the two students were punished, Duffin did not disclose the severity of their punishment.

Related Links: 

  • Anchorage Daily News: Abusive MySpace page draws principal's lawsuit [2]
  • The Knightly News: Cyberbullying: Attacks Hit Colony [4]
  • MLRC: Lawsuits Against Bloggers [5] (scroll down)
  • Student Press Law Center: Principal drops suit against MySpace after students come forward for making fake profile [3]
Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

MySpace.com [6]

Content Type: 

  • Photo
  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Social Network

Subject Area: 

  • Defamation
  • Third-Party Content
  • Anonymity
  • Student Speech
  • Cyberbullying
  • User Comments or Submissions
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • California

Source of Law: 

  • California

Court Name: 

Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles

Court Type: 

State
CMLP Information (Private)

Priority: 

1-High

Threat Source: 

RSS

CMLP Notes: 

Source: Anchorage Daily News

checked 6/18/09; no new info - CMF

UPDATED 7/16/09 AVM added information on dismissal

DMLP Logo


Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:09pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/duffin-v-does

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/duffin-v-does
[2] http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/matsu/story/748805.html
[3] http://www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=1935
[4] http://chs.matsuk12.us/knightlynews/2008-2009/Dec2008.pdf
[5] http://www.medialaw.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=7182
[6] http://www.myspace.com/