Gossip Web Site Not Liable for User Posts Despite Using Provocative Domain Name, Adding Commentary

In Jones v. Dirty World Entertainment Recordings LLC, Case No. 13-5946 (U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, ordered entered June 16, 2014), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a gossip Web site retained immunity from liability in a state law defamation action for user-generated posts, pursuant to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”), despite using the provocative domain name “thedirty.com” and adding brief commentary to the posts. In reversing the underlying district court ruling, the court applied the Ninth Circuit’s “material contribution” test, finding that the site did not lose immunity as a developer of the content under the CDA because it did not materially contribute to the alleged unlawfulness. Section 230 of the CDA provides immunity from liability to interactive computer service providers as publishers of others’ content, so long as the provider is not responsible in whole or in part for the creation or development of the material.