Convicted Murderer Sues Wikipedia, Demands Removal Of His Name

Convicted murderer Wolfgang Werle is suing Wikipedia in an attempt to censor the site and have it remove his name from a post that makes mention of his culpability in the murder of actor Walter Sedlmayr.

Invoking Germany's privacy laws, Werle and his attorneys sent a cease-and-desist letter (available here) to Wikipedia demanding that the online encyclopedia delete his name from the entry on Walter Sedlmayr, which references Werle's killing of the actor.

Walter Sedlmayr's Wikipedia page currently says this about his murder:

In July 1990, Sedlmayr was found dead and mutilated in his bedroom. Through lurid reports in the Munich tabloid press, his homosexuality became a matter of public knowledge for the first time. In 1993, half-brothers Manfred Lauber and Wolfgang Werle, former business associates of Sedlmayr, were sentenced to life in prison for his murder. They were released on parole in 2007 and 2008.

The entry has also been edited to mention Werle's suit against Wikipedia:

In October 2009, lawyers for Wolfgang Werle sent Wikipedia a cease and desist letter requesting that Werl's name be removed from the article Walter Sedlmayr. The U.S. First Amendment protects truthful speech, although German law seeks to protect the name and likenesses of private persons from unwanted publicity.

Werle's lawyers are invoking German privacy laws in the matter, which seek to protect the name and likeness of a person from unwanted publicity, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) notes.

Werle spent 15 years in prison for his crime, and his lawyers argue that Wikipedia's reference to his role in Sedlmayr's 1990 murder could impeded his "rehabilitation."

The Register reports the lawyers' message to Wikipedia:

Werl's "rehabilitation and his future life outside the prison system is severely impacted by your unwillingness to anonymize any articles dealing with the murder of Mr. Walter Sedlmayr with regard to our client's involvement," they wrote. "As your article deals with a local German public figure (such as the actor Walter Sedlmayr), we expect you are aware that you have to comply with applicable German law."

The EFF highlights an important conflict between the U.S. First Amendment and German law, and believes that the suit could bear significant ramifications for truth and "history":

At stake is the integrity of history itself. If all publications have to abide by the censorship laws of any and every jurisdiction just because they are accessible over the global internet, then we will not be able to believe what we read, whether about Falun Gong (censored by China), the Thai king (censored under lese majeste) or German murders.

See a screenshot of Sedlmayr's Wikipedia page below:

Comments

[KAD387]

Wolfgang Werlé, a man convicted of murder in Germany in 1990, has recently filed a cease and desist letter requesting the removal of his name from Wikipedia’s English language article regarding Walter Sedlmayr, his victim. The letter deals with the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects free speech as well as a citizen’s right to know. According to Werlé’s attorney, German privacy law allows “the suppression of a criminal’s name in news accounts once he has paid his debt to society” nytimes.comm).
Werlé and his attorneys claim that Wikipedia’s continued use of his name not only violates his right to privacy but may also constitute defamation. Defamation is defined as “oral or written false statements that wrongfully harm a person’s reputation” (345). Unfortunately for Werlé, truth is an absolute and complete defense to defamation. While the inclusion of his name on Wikipedia’s site and revealing his status as a convicted murderer may be harmful to his reputation, the fact of the matter is that it is true. Werlé was in fact convicted of the murder of Walter Sedlmayr; therefore, the presence of his name in that article does not constitute defamation. In addition, while Werlé and his attorneys may consider this a violation of his privacy under German law, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution affords its citizens the right to know, which will overrule German law due to issues of jurisdiction.

[cyberlawpost]

They are murders all over the world, regardless if the can redeem themselves in Germany. Germany and the United States are two different countries and have different laws. Wikipedia should not have to adjust their posts and be concerned about what they are publishing because of people in Germany. Germany has their own Wikipedia for a reason.

[Barthsnotes]

Actually, UK libel law has a "true but libellous" clause. It can be libellous to mention an old minor criminal conviction which is regarded as "spent", if malice can be proven as the motive for mentioning it. The idea is protect private individuals who are "rehabilitated", but the law (the 1974 Rehabilitation of Offenders Act) has been used by figures who have engaged in public controversy to suppress information about past activities.

[Betsy]

I believe Mr. Werle gave up his right to privacy when he chose to snuff the life out of Mr. Sedlmayr. Besides, murders and convictions are a matter of public record. I would hope that a judge would either refuse to hear his suit or inform Werle that the safety of the public from the likes of someone like him is the court's number 1 priority.

[leftyloosy45]

Tis a small price for a despicable act

[Mattjoe3]

Good luck with that Wolfgang, who do you think you are.....

.......a Catholic priest?

[Politisizer]

Well if you want pri.vacy my advice is to not go around mur.dering people. Simple.

[EducatedWoman]

If Wolfgang Werle (3280 hits) and Manfred Lauber (3080 hits) want privacy, they should stop googling themselves.

Privacy lawsuits are not generally the best way to stay under the radar. But, too late now, guys. I had never heard of you before today, but by suing Wikipedia you managed to fix that, didn't you?

[jws2346]

Egad, what's next, child molesters are allowed to reside in secret next to grammar schools. I'd really have to think twice about having young children in Germany (and I'm part German)

[fresno500]

Ignore them and never go to Germany.

[bccmeteorites]

If you want publicity the surest way to get it is to file a frivolous lawsuit.

[A Meat Beetle]

Dude, cut the mullet!

[Goliadkin]

Mullet with windswept earflaps, no less! Definitely a tip-off to his pathological narcissism. He, Trump, and Blago would be a great team.

[nightwind928]

He ought to be re arrested for that hairstyle

[dazed]

Heh,heh Totally

[jws2346]

LOL You'd better watch it, I seen the same hairstyle in that movie "Valley of the no class zombies"

[GhostNyc]

Interesting, Germany has privacy laws protecting convicted adult criminals? I think it woud be fair to remove their names from the GERMAN WIKIPEDIA site. However as a matter of public record of the murder and subsequent trials and players involved their names should stay on every where else around the world.

[vippy]

Nothing is private anymore. Maybe with all transparency less crimes get committed. Yeah right!