Bluvol, Esteban Carlos c / Google Inc. y otros s/ daños y perjuicios

Cámara Nacional de Apelaciones en lo Civil de la Capital Federal [National Civil Court of Appeals, Buenos Aires capital District], Civil. Exp. N° 59.532/2009, Cita Online: AR/JUR/55851/2009
Document type
Court Decision
Country
In the Bluvol case, the plaintiff came to know of a blog on Blogspot, which he had not created, but was posted under his name.  This blog was easily accessible by searching the plainftiff's name on Google. Bluvol argued that the information found on this blog was false and affected his personal and professional life. The court of first instance ruled in Bluvol's favour, requiring the search engines to compensate Bluvol. The judge based his decision on the fact that Google's liability was objective. The Appelate Court sustained that the attributing factor was not objective, since the objective liability of search engines would always lead them to be liable, regardless of their conduct. Moreover, it emphasized that search engines do not create the content. They provide users with tools to access and find it. The Appelate Court applied subjective liability as privided by Article 1109 of the Argentinean Civil Code. The Court analyzed the conduct of search engines and considered that a search engine could be found liable for third party content only if it has ‘‘actual knowledge’’ of the infringing content and fails to remove it. Particularly in the Bluvol case, Google took action only two months after the claim and was therefore found negligent.
Country
Year
2009
Topic, claim, or defense
Defamation or Personality Rights
Document type
Court Decision
Issuing entity
Highest Domestic/National (including State) Court
Type of service provider
Search Engine or Index
Issues addressed
Trigger for OSP obligations
OSP obligation considered
Block or Remove
Type of law
Civil
General effect on immunity
Strengthens Immunity
General intermediary liability model
Takedown/Act Upon Knowledge (Includes Notice and Takedown)