Screenwriter fails in bid to have Wikipedia delete her age
A German screenwriter’s legal bid to force Wikipedia to delete her age has failed, after a court pointed out that her date of birth had already been printed in one of her own books.
Dr Evelyn Shels had argued that the online compendium had infringed her data protection rights by divulging her age, fearing that she may be disadvantaged in her career by the information.
In their ruling however a court in Munich said that this data was already public knowledge. It said: “It had to be clear to the claimant from the start that this book, and the public knowledge of her birth day along with it, would not remain limited to a small circle of people interested in films, but be accessible to various libraries etc to a circle of unlimited users.”
Welcoming the judgement Wikipedia publisher Wikimedia said: “Those who publish information and make it available to the general public should expect a large number of people to be able to find it online, including on Wikipedia, some day.”
Shel’s year of birth is listed on Wikipedia as 1955.