#Who owns linkedin password

It strains credulity to suggest that all or even most of Eagle’s (or anyone’s) LinkedIn connections are customers or specific prospective customers. Some commentators have suggested that this is just the modern day equivalent of a customer list, and is therefore clearly protected under non-compete statutes. But at the end of the day, she is the one who was connected to these people. She made some of these connections while acting in her capacity as an Edcomm co-owner. She made some of these connections in her personal life. Rather, Eagle had a LinkedIn account which she used to gather a variety of connections. Many companies have corporate social media accounts.

If the LinkedIn account specifically was set up to be an Edcomm account, then Edcomm obviously would own it. So who should own the LinkedIn account? What makes sense here? Again, we are not dealing with a clear cut case of ownership. The ownership of the LinkedIn account remains in dispute. In a recent decision, the court in the Pennsylvania case dismissed Eagle’s CFAA and Lanham Act claims, but let stand her state law claims (misappropriation, tortious interference and the like). In her case, Eagle alleges violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Lanham Act and a variety of common law claims (all predicated on Edcomm’s use / misappropriation of her LinkedIn account). Knowing that she (and her buddies) were basically toast in the New York lawsuit, Eagle fired off a lawsuit against SISCOM/Edcomm only two weeks after the New York lawsuit was filed. In December 2011, the court issued an order on Defendants’ motion to dismiss sustaining virtually all of the claims. The case is being heard by Judge Scheindlin, one of the best jurists in the business. None of these details were disclosed to the SISCOM buyers. millions) in the event of his termination by Edcomm and (2) a 2008 agreement transferring ownership of most of Edcomm’s intellectual property to Brody. As it turns out, there were two agreements between Edcomm and Brody that made the deal largely worthless: (1) A 1995 deal entitling Brody to significant severance pay (i.e. One of the defendants in the SDNY case – Brody – is the former CEO of Edcomm. Plaintiffs in the SDNY case allege that Eagle and the other former owners of Edcomm defrauded them in connection with the sale of their interest in the company by failing to identify certain corporate liabilities. Needless to say, there is much more at issue here than a dispute over who owns a LinkedIn account. The claims: securities fraud, fraudulent inducement and breach of contract among others.

The two companies filed a lawsuit against Eagle and the other former owners of Edcomm in the Southern District of New York on June 17, 2011.

#Who owns linkedin password

Eagle is kept on for several months as an executive, then is terminated in June 2011.įollowing her termination, Edcomm’s new owners accessed Eagle’s LinkedIn account, changed her password (to prevent Eagle from having access) and then made several curious changes to the account: Eagle’s LinkedIn page now showed a picture of the interim CEO and contained her name, but also contained all of Eagle’s honors, awards, recommendations and connections. Fast forward to October, 2010: Eagle and the owners of Edcomm sell all of their interests in the company to another company called Siscom. Some of these connections were personal friends family members old classmates. As expected, she did what most people do with a LinkedIn account: add connections. In 2008, Eagle created a LinkedIn account. Eagle had been with Edcomm since the late 1980’s. The plaintiff, Linda Eagle, co-founded a company called Edcomm, which provides banking and financial training services.