intellectual-property email illinois
Are all emails confidential?
<p>I have a workmanship issue regarding vinyl siding installed on my home which the contractor refuses to address. We’ve had several email exchanges. Can I publish his email replies?</p>

<p>I’d like to include those replies in my reviews (Yelp, etc.).</p>

<p>If your contract for the job includes some kind of confidentiality clause prohibiting revealing communications related to the job, then yes it is prohibited. But I have never seen any such thing: check your paperwork. Even if somebody writes at the bottom of their email "This email is confidential and cannot be distributed to anybody other than the intended recipient", this is legally ineffective. Even in the case of supposed attorney-client privilege, this disclaimer is <a href="http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2007/2007_27429.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">not necessarily effective</a>. Presumably the subject matter is not covered by laws about national security, disclosure of student records, medical information, or stuff about brokers disclosing financial information. </p>

<p>As for the question of copyright, this probably falls under fair use, given the nature of the use and the original. The reason why the "fair use" exception exists is so that people can write reviews of book or – especially – promulgate quotes from politicians in "yes he did really say that" commentary. That seems to be what you are talking about here.</p>
