REPUTATIONAL DAMAGE

Unfortunately, it may happen that one's works, documents or products are "sold" as property, or that they are used, altering their origin, the methodology applied or the context for which they were developed or produced, and you discover this by pure chance. , perhaps presented to others, with untruthful statements or elaborations.

Certainly "copy/paste" or alteration is a great temptation and it happens that the tongue runs faster than the thought, but...

You have to think very carefully about doing certain things and how they are used because they could have and generate annoying consequences, where no one emerges as a winner.

Pirro could be a good example of the futility of some actions or initiatives.

A very well done in-depth analysis found on the web, below, could be useful for a reflection and evaluation on the consequences of some attitudes.

In any case it is advisable to consult your trusted lawyer.

"What is damage to one's image and how is it protected by our legislation

by Valeria Zeppilli

What is image damage?

Il damage to the image is what damages the reputation and personal identity of an individual, i.e. the set of attributes that identify a specific subject in the social or professional context of reference.

It is, in other words, the injury of a fundamental right of the person, consisting of the global representation that the community has of him.

Legal basis

Il legal basis of the protection of the image and reputation of individuals can be found, implicitly, in the articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. The right to an image, therefore, is configured as a perfect subjective right which has equal recognition to that of the person's other rights (such as name, honour, privacy and so on).

Civil protection

The damage to the image generates, for the person who caused it, a responsibility having an Aquilian nature (although there is no shortage of those who believe that, in some cases, the injury can also arise from a breach of contract).

It is evaluated abstractly, considering the reputation formed in a specific historical moment in the common social conscience, while for the purposes of compensation for damage to nothing, the consideration that each individual has for his own reputation is irrelevant.

Burden of proof

The jurisprudence is now unanimous in considering that the damage to the image is a damage-consequence and that therefore it requires a specific test by those who, assuming they have suffered it, claim to be compensated for it (See, ex multis, Cass. n. 10527/2011, Cass. n. 13614/2011, Cass. n. 7471/2012 and Cass. n. 20558/2014).

In any case, with reference to the general image of individuals, once the injury has been proven, the damage must be considered in re ipsa: in other words, once the harmful fact has been proven, proof of damage is not necessary.

Damage to the professional image

Distinct from damage to the overall image is the damage the professional image, i.e. the consideration that a person has among the people with whom he interacts in his working context, within which, therefore, the discredit caused unlawfully remains limited.

The test

The difference between damage to the general image and damage to the professional image is not limited to the different area to which the injury refers, but also extends to proof required for compensation purposes.

In fact, in case of damage to the working reputation, proof of injury is not sufficient in order to be compensated, for this purpose the proof of the damage suffered as a result.

Damage to the image of legal entities

Finally, the image of legal entities is also protected by our system and its injury may give rise to compensation for damages.

The burden of proof is equivalent to that seen for damage to the professional image of a natural person, which means that for the purposes of compensation for damage proof of injury is not sufficient, but it is also necessary to demonstrate the damage suffered and the causal link.

Criminal consequences

Behaviors capable of causing civilly significant damage to the image may, in certain cases, also result in criminal consequences.

Think, for example, of the risk of integrating the crime of defamation or that of illicit data processing.

The jurisprudence on damage to image

We report below some maxims of the Court of Cassation relating to damage to the image.

<<When the damage to this image occurs, in addition to the pecuniary damage, if it occurs and if demonstrated, it is compensable, above all the non-pecuniary damage constituted - as a consequence - by the reduction in the consideration of the person by the associates in general or by sectors or categories of them with which it has to interact? (Cass. no. 8397/2016).>>

<<Is damage to reputation and image, according to the peaceful jurisprudence of this Court, a damage-consequence which therefore requires specific proof from those seeking compensation? (Cass. no. 20558/2014).>>

<<The damage to the professionalism and related image of the employee can only be recognized in the presence of adequate allegations regarding the damage that the employer's offense causes on the worker's "earnings" (altering his life habits and the relational structures that were his own, upsetting his daily life and depriving him of opportunities to express and realize his personality in the outside world, considering that the existential damage is based on the not merely emotional and internal nature of moral damage, but objectively acceptable of prejudice) , even though, for the purposes of demonstrating the damage, can the proof of presumptions take on particular importance on the basis of an overall evaluation of precise elements ritually deduced into question? (Cass. no. 28457/2008).>>

Source: The damage to the image https://www.studiocataldi.it/guide_legali/pillole/il-danno-all-immagine.asp#ixzz6kGUqufiW

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