Author’s Note: With all of the hubbub surrounding the Oatmeal, I reached out to some internet lawyers for perspective. The following is a guest post from J. Christopher Erb (@jcerb on twitter), an attorney in Philadelphia, PA, who focuses on corporate and contract law for international and domestic corporations with specific emphasis on internet law issues. Rumor has it, he’s also responsible for my last name and one or more of my children.
What Not To Do: What You Can Learn from the FunnyJunk.com/Oatmeal Debacle
by Chris Erb
FunnyJunk.com is in the process of learning that maybe not all publicity is good, and that lawyers aren’t always the best spokespersons. You’d think businesses would learn, having seen lawyers damage their client’s reputations in cases as diverse as the McDonald’s libel debacle in the UK and the infamous Shops At Willow Mall lawsuit, but apparently not.
For those who haven’t been following this saga, FunnyJunk is a site which allows users to upload humorous content to the internet, and Oatmeal is a cartoonist by the name of Matt Inman whose cartoons are particularly popular on FunnyJunk. Frustrated with chasing copyright infringers, Inman complained on his website about FunnyJunk. In response, FunnyJunk’s lawyer, Charles Carreon, sent a cease and desist letter demanding $20,000 for the alleged defamation of his client. Inman responded with a mocking fund-raiser for charity, which Carreon moved to shut down, resulting in much internet vitriole against both him and FunnyJunk. Carreon, for his part, has told Forbes that he has both the energy and time to continue the online battle, and intends to do so. Truth be told, however, most of us don’t and shouldn’t.
There was a time when this sort of back and forth would be limited to a few people, and the world at large would never even notice the back and forth between a (possibly overzealous) lawyer and the recipient of his snarky letter. Witness the story of this 1974 correspondence between a lawyer and the Cleveland Browns, which took almost 36 years to go viral. Of course, by then the Cleveland Browns had died and come back again (sort of), the individuals involved are likely retired (or worse), and the snarky response was wholly justified.
Nowadays, however, the wrong e-mail received by the wrong party can result in massive damage to a company’s public image or worse. With that in mind, here are a few things to consider before responding to posts or comments which are potentially harmful to your reputation or business:
- Is anybody paying attention? If you’ve been insulted on someone’s personal blog, or if someone has just registered yournamesucks.com and put up a website, consider whether anyone is paying attention. Odds are the new website will not attract any visitors (other than a few friends of the complainer and maybe the odd hater). In fact, by giving them more content you may be unintentionally boosting their profile and traffic to their site significantly.
- If people are paying attention, is it really going to hurt your business? There are a lot of rants on the internet, many of which are irrational, poorly written, or just batsh*t crazy. If one of those posts gets attention, is it hurting you or the ranter more? If the answer is you, you should consider whether your brand isn’t in need of a complete overhaul anyway.
- Will responding hurt your business even more than ignoring it? In 1974, an ill-advised response to a letter would garner little if any attention at all – in fact, in order to get traction in the greater Cleveland area the lawyer in question would have had to bring it to the attention of a newspaper or, possibly, a politician and that person would have had to agree with the lawyer and care enough to do something about it. In today’s world, fewer than 140 characters typed by someone with enough followers can undo years of marketing, brand placement, and SEO work. Consider whether your response is really worth that risk.
- Are you responding in the right way? If you’re going to respond, make sure it’s the right response, and that you’d be ok with having the internet at large read it and understand that it’s from you. Nicely asking for understanding and cooperation from the other party can make them look like the jerks, and can help your brand immensely. In some cases, simply increasing your own online brand awareness, possibly combined with some targeted SEO efforts can limit or negate the effect of negative press online. In fact, those efforts are more likely to benefit your business in the long term, and provide a handy tool for dealing with later online issues. Either way, a hostile or half-baked response is a recipe for disaster – just ask Nestle.
Having answered the above questions for yourself, tell your lawyer! Lawyers, like doctors, spend a lot of time focusing on the law and do not always think through what’s important to the client. Make sure your attorney understands your priorities and takes them into account before taking action or, even better, before not taking action. A well-thought-out, holistic approach to dealing with online insults may improve your brand and save you a lot of unnecessary aggravation (and legal fees).
Responses, legal or otherwise, are fuel on the fire – they energize the poster and provide fuel for additional negative postings. By responding only when necessary, and with an eye to the bigger picture, you can prevent bigger issues and protect your business in the long run.