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Well, that’s one way of dealing with a bad review.
When Thomas Weigend, a law professor at the University of Cologne, wrote a review of Karin N. Calvo-Goller’s “The Trial Proceedings of the International Criminal Court,” he likely wasn’t expecting to end up being charged in a French criminal court. But that’s exactly what’s happened.
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It seems that Calvo-Goller wasn’t too pleased with the review, which the New York Times notes has “a measured and patiently condescending tone.” So she wrote to Joseph Weiler, the editor of the site where it was published, Global Law Books, and asked him to remove the review from the website. He refused but offered her the chance to write a response.
Apparently that wasn’t good enough for Calvo-Goller. She filed charges against Weigend and Weiler in French court, despite the fact that she lives in Israel, Weigend is in Germany and the website is run from New York. Calvo-Goller is a French citizen, so at least there’s one tie to the country.
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The charges are for defamation, as Calvo-Goller has claimed that the negative review could “cause harm to my professional reputation and academic promotion.”
Hmm, how does she think overreactions to “mild” criticism will impact her rep? (via New York Times)