Jerome Schneider v. Amazon.com, Inc.

Jerome Schneider v. Amazon.com, Inc.

Jerome Schneider v. Amazon.com, Inc.,

31 P.3d 37, 108 Wash. App. 454, Ct. App. Wash. 2001:

Amazon is immune from liability for defamation by third-parties under the Communications Decency Act.

Case Details:
The Plaintiff sued Amazon for defamation and tortious interference. Plaintiff sold books on Amazon’s website and visitors to the website posted negative reviews calling Plaintiff a “felon,” etc. Plaintiff complained to Amazon and an Amazon representative agreed it was defamatory and to take it down, but when it was still posted two days later, Plaintiff filed suit against Amazon and some individual defendants.

Amazon argued it was immune from liability under the Communications Decency Act. As a result, the Plaintiff argued that there were false or defamatory comments regarding Plaintiff and his business on Amazon’s website and that Amazon exercises editorial discretion and decision-making authority over the posting of comments on its site.

Summary and Conclusion:
The Court agreed with Amazon that the Communications Decency Act immunizes it from liability for any allegedly defamatory comments made by third-parties on its website, and dismissed the case in favor of Amazon.