Keep your contacts on your own kit

Keep your contacts on your own pc/mac and create the list with your own software.

That’s the best advice following a court action against a journalist who has been told to hand over his contact list to his ex-employer.

Junior Isles’ contacts are the property of his ex-employer PennWell. Isles walked out of PennWell at the end of last year and launched a rival. PennWell went after him and two colleagues for their contacts. It’s our property, the publisher said.

The High Court agreed. The list was created and administered on PennWell kit with PennWell software. Hence it is PennWell’s property, the Court says.

So make sure you keep it on your property, whether it be electronically or on paper. Buy your own address book, Rolodex or Filofax if you don’t like the electronic stuff. And use your own biro.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *