Iiluminaughtii NDA? can it be enforced, or not?
Iiluminaughtii NDA? can it be enforced, or not?
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The original was posted on /r/youtubedrama by /u/kibufox on 2023-06-09 09:48:08+00:00.
I saw it pop up that Wonder may have been under an NDA, which is why Blair has filed the 'cease and desist' against him. That actually got me thinking. Specifically, it makes me think that Blair doesn't know what an NDA is, and may be misconstruing just what an NDA is, and isn't.
With NDA's, to make them actually able to be enforced, they need to be very specific about what they cover. They can't be blanket terms that cover anything and everything.
For example, an NDA for a youtube editor would typically only cover planned or future video ideas, and private discussions in reference to videos being produced. Anything outside of that, such as discussions not related to videos being produced, aren't covered.
What's more, an NDA must be actually signed to be enforced. It's not a simple case of "I don't want you talking about this." A person actually has to sign the things. You can't just go off of verbal assent alone.
So, could an NDA be enforced against Wonder?
Honestly... no.
So there's three reasons why Blair wouldn't have a case for breach of confidence (breach of NDA).
First and foremost, anything Wonder has stated, to this point, would fall well outside the scope of an NDA. Going back to the earlier point, NDA's must be very specific about what they cover. They can't just be blanket "You can't talk about anything... ever" type of statements. So while he may be under an NDA for his work with Blair, there's no kind of NDA out there that would prevent him from talking about anything... ever.
Second, Wonder hasn't said anything that would constitute a breach of confidence. He's not been posting step by step videos about how to recreate Blair's videos, nor posting her internal research methods, nor any planned or future videos that haven't been released. He's only been talking about his personal experiences, which can never be covered under an NDA to begin with.
The third and last one is the most surprising.
There is one way he could breach the NDA (if he has one), and still not be sued. It's under the whistleblower laws and statutes. I won't go into the specific letter of these laws, as it covers some 200 pages to do, but the gist of the whistleblower laws is that if an employee discovers, or knows that an employer is taking actions that are illegal, then the employee is legally allowed to blow the whistle on this activity and bring it to light, regardless of if that employer's actions would normally be protected by a NDA. Meaning that if Wonder knew Blair was breaking the law (harassment of others would certainly qualify), then Wonder would legally be well within his rights to expose that behavior, as NDA's can not serve as protection against legal repercussions for behavior.
Note: The reason I know as much as I do about these things, is I'm currently under one now for a game development company I work for; and I've also had jobs covered by them in the past, so I've some pretty extensive experience with them.