A Finnish court ruled against a 15-year-old student in a libel case on Friday after he posted a clip of his teacher on YouTube, ordering the youth to pay €800 (about R7 900) in damages and a €90 (R890) fine.
The student had filmed his teacher singing at a school party last May and put the clip on YouTube with English subtitles under the headline ”Karaoke of the mental hospital”.
The teacher took the boy to court and asked for €2 000 (R19 700) in damages. This is the first time a Finnish court has found against someone based on a video clip published on the internet.
The court said it had ordered reduced damages because the defendant was under 18 years of age and he had removed the clip from the internet within two weeks at the request of the school’s headmaster. — Reuters