When an employee left the company he worked for, the latter believed that he had to turn over the keys to his Twitter account, as the company owned all his followers.
An individual named Noah Kravitz has been sued by his ex-employer, the company Phonedog.com. The company demands $340,000 in damages for “stealing” his 17,000 Twitter followers with him when he left the outfit and found another job.
More than a year ago, Noah Kravitz quit his job at Phonedog.com company, after having worked there almost 4 years. He had been tweeting under the nickname Phonedog-Noah. As the time passed, Noah had gathered around 17,000 followers on Twitter. According to him, when he left the company PhoneDog told him he could keep his Twitter account if he posted from time to time.
The former employee believed that he was parting on good terms with the company and responded that it was all right to post tweets on its behalf occasionally. During the interview to the local media, Noah admitted that he started writing as NoahKravitz, while keeping all his friends under that new handle. However, in 8 months, PhoneDog launched a lawsuit against its former employee, saying that the Twitter list was a customer list. Now the company is seeking damages of $2.50 a month per each follower, which for 8 months totals to $340,000.
There are some reasons why the company has suddenly changed its mind – among them there are facts that Noah Kravitz demands 15% of the site's gross advertising revenue due to his position as a vested partner, along with some back pay he is owed. However, things could get messy, since the case is about to decide if the company you are working for can own your Twitter followers and if this has a value in the first place. Meanwhile, Noah Kravitz admits he was confused that he was being sued for a third of a million dollars for doing exactly what he was told.
An individual named Noah Kravitz has been sued by his ex-employer, the company Phonedog.com. The company demands $340,000 in damages for “stealing” his 17,000 Twitter followers with him when he left the outfit and found another job.
More than a year ago, Noah Kravitz quit his job at Phonedog.com company, after having worked there almost 4 years. He had been tweeting under the nickname Phonedog-Noah. As the time passed, Noah had gathered around 17,000 followers on Twitter. According to him, when he left the company PhoneDog told him he could keep his Twitter account if he posted from time to time.
The former employee believed that he was parting on good terms with the company and responded that it was all right to post tweets on its behalf occasionally. During the interview to the local media, Noah admitted that he started writing as NoahKravitz, while keeping all his friends under that new handle. However, in 8 months, PhoneDog launched a lawsuit against its former employee, saying that the Twitter list was a customer list. Now the company is seeking damages of $2.50 a month per each follower, which for 8 months totals to $340,000.
There are some reasons why the company has suddenly changed its mind – among them there are facts that Noah Kravitz demands 15% of the site's gross advertising revenue due to his position as a vested partner, along with some back pay he is owed. However, things could get messy, since the case is about to decide if the company you are working for can own your Twitter followers and if this has a value in the first place. Meanwhile, Noah Kravitz admits he was confused that he was being sued for a third of a million dollars for doing exactly what he was told.
No comments:
Post a Comment