There is a potential class action lawsuit against Mahalo.com and founder, Jason Calacanis. This lawsuit is in response to Mahalo's recent action in which all pages were confiscated from Mahalo page writers.
I have read several outcries against this lawsuit. I don't know if these outcries were written by Mahalo cronies or by misinformed Mahalo members. But whoever those people are, they really should get their facts straight before trying to make it look like ex-Mahalo writers are just being vindictive and are just trying to get money. Because that is not the case, and I'm speaking as an ex-Mahalo writer.
The reason for this lawsuit stems from the misrepresentation of Mahalo/Jason Calacanis to its writers as it relates to "page management". Mahalo's Terms of Service clearly stated "you own your content". There is no way those words can be misinterpreted. Even if Jason didn't mean for those words to be there, the simple truth is that they were there. So when Jason decided that Mahalo's business platform wasn't working, and decided to go a different route, they had no right to confiscate the content that the writers (aka "page managers") had created.
If this lawsuit were to go to court and the plaintiffs were to prevail, it would be a great precedent for all freelance writers. It would serve as an example that content sites cannot steal from writers without there being some kind of legal recourse.
Jason Calacanis can learn a thing or two from the content site, eHow. When eHow changed is business platform last April, it did not remove the pages that it's writers had created. All writers retained ownership of their work, can still edit their work, and continue to receive revenue share from that work. This is what Jason should have done when he decided to change Mahalo's business platform. He should have allowed the "page managers" to keep their work or he should have offered to buy their work. He should not have been allowed to just confiscate it, and then try to cover his ass by changing the Terms of Service.
I just don't understand why anyone would defend Mahalo/Jason Calacanis for these reprehensible actions.
To learn more about this potential class action lawsuit or to contact the law firm involved, please click here.
