Taylor Vinters - Solicitors

Published by Tim Hill

A US-based communications and media company is suing one of its former workers over the 17,000 followers they amassed on Twitter during their time working for the firm.

The lawsuit could soon settle the question of the ownership rights for businesses and the individual in terms of the development of social media contacts while a person is being employed, with mobile phone and information sales company PhoneDog taking its former employee Noah Kravitz to court over the issue.

Kravitz worked for the company for four years and after leaving the job eight months ago, it has now emerged that PhoneDog is suing him for the right to retrieve the details of the 17,000 followers he gained while working as a social networker for them.

Recent years have seen a significant shift in marketing activities for many businesses, with the rise in popularity of social media meaning that today, the myriad interactions that workers have online could be viewed as being just as much the intellectual property of the company as the blogger or poster themselves.

Kravitz spent four years tweeting and blogging on a personal account under the name Phonedog_Noah and when his employment with the company ended, he claims he was told he could continue to use the handle as long as he would "tweet on their behalf from time to time".

However, the firm now appears to have come out fighting and is suing Kravitz, arguing that he stole the list of followers and this consent was not provided. PhoneDog is suing Kravitz for $340,000 - which the firm accounts as £2.50 per month in lost revenues for each member of the list.

What makes this case particularly interesting is the fact that should it get to court, then it could prove a landmark in determining ownership rights for future cases where social media contacts are in dispute.

Please contact Patrick Farrant, Head of Technology for further information or call 01223 225181