Four years ago a French teacher decided to post a famous painting on his Facebook account. It was a painting that had been featured in the very prestigious Musee d’Orsay art museum, among other places. The painting he posted an image of was the “L’Origine du Monde” which translates to, “The Origin of the World.” The painting was completed in 1866 by French artist Gustave Courbet.
If you are not familiar with the painting, you may wonder what the problem might be. This painting is an oil-on-canvas of a fairly close up view of the genitals and abdomen of a nude woman lying on a bed. It is important to note that this is not an abstract piece at all, but rather a very realistic painting (You can see the image on Wikipedia HERE, which is the reason why Facebook moderators removed the image from the page. The claim is that it violated the Facebook Terms of Service.
While interesting, none of this really has any relevance to marketers up to this point. Where it is important is what happened next. The French teacher decided to sue Facebook for removing the image, and he filed a suit in French court.
For those who are not familiar, Facebook makes it very clear in their Terms of Service and other legal pages that all legal cases against them must be held in a court of the Northern District of California, which is in San Mateo County. When you sign up, you agree that this is the case and that the laws of California govern all legal cases related to Facebook.
Apparently the French courts don’t care about this, as they have agreed to hear the case anyway. As of now, the case is scheduled to be heard this May in a French court. This is extremely important for everyone who uses Facebook in any way as it essentially opens the doors for suing Facebook (or any corporation really) in a local court rather than the one where they are based. Of course, may not only apply to global companies like Facebook. If it stands, any business could potentially have to defend themselves in a courtroom on the other side of the world.
This will, of course, cause a lot of complications for Facebook and other corporations if it is allowed to proceed. As of now, Facebook has not released any type of official statement or response.
No matter what your opinion on whether the painting is tasteful art or pornography, this legal case is extremely important and should be followed by everyone doing business on line.
