In the past, I have repeatedly advised those affected who received a warning due to an evaluation/review. If you also receive such a warning, I will be happy to advise you as well.
Warning due to rating or review
A warning is an attempt to settle a dispute out of court. The allegation of unlawful conduct is filed with a corresponding letter. If the warning is issued by an attorney and relates to an evaluation or review, especially on Google or in the evaluation portal, the following claims are usually asserted:
- change the rating or delete the rating,
- Submit a cease and desist ad
- Attorney’s Fee Compensation
Typical cases:
Since freedom of expression in Germany is protected by fundamental rights, and evaluation or review constitutes an expression of opinion, one can, of course, ask about cases in which action can be taken against corresponding publications. The actions I have advised those affected in the past illustrate typical cases:
- The rating/review contains inaccurate statements of facts,
- The evaluation / review (separate from the objective examination of the activities or products of the company being evaluated) consists exclusively of derogatory statements (the so-called arbitrary criticism) or
- Rating/review gives an inaccurate impression
The problem of the typical cases mentioned above is easily understandable, because of course freedom of expression is not infinitely protected: it is simply not acceptable to make claims about incorrect actual conditions. It’s a bit smart to make your statement recognizable as an expression of opinion right from the start. Now freedom of expression is so widely protected, that sometimes very harsh value judgments must be accepted. However, if the statements are no longer related to a factual dispute and are limited to insults or statements that are harmful to business, the boundaries of freedom of expression have been crossed. An appraisal or review can also be problematic if the expression of opinion is still permissible in itself, but creates an incorrect impression on an outsider, for example, that the reviewer was or is a customer of the company being evaluated.
Typical issues:
When evaluating a rating or review, the question is often asked whether a factual claim has been made or whether an opinion has been expressed. Sometimes it is necessary to make a distinction in this respect because the post contains factual claims and expressions of opinion. This question is of great importance to the person who has been warned, because a request to change or delete a post can only be requested to the extent that this is unacceptable.
My review:
Given the typical contested issues listed above, when examining justification for claims in a warning due to rating or review, it is often not just a matter of how much the post should be changed or deleted. Instead, the question is often whether a pre-formulated cease-and-desist declaration should be served with a warning and whether the amount of legal fees claimed is justified.
In my experience, punitive, pre-worded stop-and-go announcements sent with warning messages are often too one-sided in favor of the warning lady.
Some of the claimed costs have also been overestimated.
My recommendations:
- Do not sign under any circumstances a prematurely formulated cease-and-desist declaration without legal advice.
- Also, do not make any payments without prior expert advice.
- First get legal advice.
About me and my work:
As a lawyer specializing in IT law at Internetrecht-Rostock.de, I constantly advise those who have been warned and therefore have experience of a large number of warning actions.
More information about me and my work can be found in the legal advice and my assessment profile.
I can also advise you over the phone across the country in no time. As part of my advisory, I will discuss the legal situation and various alternative courses of action with you. Of course, you will also receive specific recommendations from me on how to proceed.
Did you get a warning too?
If you also receive a warning and would like an offer for specific advice:
- just call me
- message me
- Or send me a message using the “send message” function.
Andreas Kempke
Attorney
Information Technology Lawyer
“Explorer. Communicator. Music geek. Web buff. Social media nerd. Food fanatic.”
More Stories
Hawaii was canceled by CBS after 3 seasons
Inside NASA's months-long effort to save the Voyager 1 mission
Poppy Harlow is out at CNN after CNN This Morning was canceled