A bad word in the media, a rumour spread through social networks or through the business environment causes real damage: reputation is built over years and a single publication diminishes it. In Georgia the route of this protection is civil law: the Civil Code gives a person the right to protect, through the court, honour, dignity, the secrecy of private life, personal inviolability and business reputation. This page explains how that protection works, how data spread through mass media is refuted, and when compensation for damage may be claimed.
The Legal Basis
The eighteenth article of the Civil Code unites two directions. The first is the protection of the name: a person deprived of the right to bear a name, or whose interests are infringed by unauthorised use of the name, may demand of the infringer the cessation of the act or its repudiation. The second is judicial protection: a person has the right, through the court and in the manner established by law, to protect honour, dignity, the secrecy of private life, personal inviolability or business reputation from infringement. The character of the protection matters as well: the good protected by this article is protected irrespective of the infringer's fault — refutation may be demanded even where the distributor bears no blame; compensation of damage, however, requires a culpable act. This split defines the strategy: quick restoration of the picture of facts first, money second, and the evidentiary standards for the two differ accordingly.
Data Spread Through Mass Media
Where infringing data has been spread through mass media, its refutation must likewise occur through the same media — the rule carries the visibility of the refutation to the audience that saw the infringement. Where such data is contained in a document issued by an organisation, the document must be replaced and interested persons informed of it. A person whose honour and dignity have been infringed by data published in mass media has the right to publish response information in the same media — the right-of-reply mechanism that gives the injured party the ability to present a position with equal visibility. In practice the choice among refutation, replacement of the document and reply shapes the speed and the public footprint of the remedy, and it should be made with the audience of each channel in mind rather than uniformly.
Publication of One's Image
Personal non-property protection also covers the image: the right to make a claim exists where a person's image — photograph, film, video and the like — is published without consent. At the same time the law defines the exceptions to the need for consent: a person's consent is not required where the photography or video recording is connected with public recognition of the person, with a position held, with the demands of justice or the police, with scientific, educational or cultural purposes, where the recording took place in a public situation, or where the person received remuneration for posing. The boundary is this: a public role and public space create the possibility of distributing the image, while a private context demands consent. For public figures the practical effect is that the same photograph may be lawful in news coverage and unlawful in commercial use, and the purpose of the use often decides the answer.
Compensation of Damage
Where the violation results from a culpable act, the person may also claim compensation of damage, including the profit of which the infringer was deprived — recovery in the form of the gain that arose to the infringer. In the case of culpable infringement the entitled person may also claim compensation of non-property — moral — damage, which may be claimed independently of compensation of property damage. The general basis of compensation is the tort norm: a person who causes damage to another person by a wrongful, intentional or negligent act is obliged to compensate that damage. In practical terms a reputation dispute therefore unfolds in two steps: first cessation and refutation — without fault; then damages — once culpability is established. Documents proving the reach of the publication, the lost contracts and the emotional impact become the currency of the second step.
Protection After Death
The protection of personal rights does not end with death: under the relevant norm of the Code, the rights noted in the eighteenth article may also be exercised by a person who, although not the holder of the right to the name or personal dignity, has an interest worthy of protection — such a person may demand protection of the name and dignity to the extent it defines the person's essence and continues after death. At the same time the boundary is clear: claiming property compensation of moral damage for infringement of name, honour, dignity or business reputation after death is impermissible. The estate therefore inherits the standing to restore the record but not the claim for moral damages, which concentrates the posthumous remedy on factual correction rather than on payment.
Is refutation possible without fault?
Yes — the good protected by this article is protected irrespective of the infringer's fault; compensation of damage, however, requires a culpable act.
Where must the refutation be published?
Through the same mass-media means by which the infringing data was spread; response information is likewise published in the same means.
When is consent for publishing an image not required?
Where connected with public recognition, a position held, the demands of justice or the police, scientific, educational or cultural purposes, a public situation, or remuneration for posing.
May moral damages be claimed on behalf of a deceased person?
No — property compensation of moral damage after death is impermissible, though a person with an interest worthy of protection may demand protection of dignity.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team protects public figures, businesspeople and ordinary citizens from infringement of reputation. We assess the published data and tell you which route is more effective — refutation, response or damages; we prepare the demand and the claim and represent your interests in court. Contact us for a consultation — the earlier you act, the greater the chance of keeping the damage uncreated.