A judgment is made that 'pictograms with thumbs up are agreed'
A Canadian court ruled that a farmer who ordered a crop by text message with a ``thumbs up emoji'' did not deliver the crop, and the farmer was given money, saying that ``the thumbs up emoji constitutes a contractual agreement.'' ordered the payment of
2023 SKKB 116 (CanLII) | South West Terminal Ltd. v Achter Land | CanLII
Texting thumbs-up emoji in response to a question costs Sask. farmer $82K in contract case | CBC News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/thumbs-up-emoji-costs-sask-farmer-82-thousand-1.6898686
This time, it was Canadian farmer Chris Actor and grain marketer South West Terminal's Kent Mickleborough who fought in court over whether the exchange of pictograms was a legal contract. In March 2021, Mr. Mickleborough sent Mr. Actor a text message saying, ``Please check the flax contract,'' along with a photo of the contract to buy the flax crop.
In response to a message with a contract asking for the crop to be delivered in November, Aktor responded with a thumbs-up emoji, but no flax was delivered when the deadline was reached. At that time, the price of flax had soared sharply since the time the message was exchanged.
Mr. Mickleborough, who was unable to purchase flax, said, ``I have sent many contracts to Mr. Actor by text message, and Mr. Actor has fulfilled the contract properly each time, so the emoji is a contractual agreement. ' and sued Mr. Actor for damages.
In response, Mr. Actor said, ``I didn't have time to check the contract, so I just wanted to tell you that I did receive the text message,'' the pictogram claimed that the contract was not an agreement.
Judge Timothy Keane of the Kingsbench Court of Saskatchewan, who heard the case, ruled in June 2023 that the emoji met the signature requirements and that Mr. Akhter did not deliver the crop despite replying with the emoji. He said that he was in breach of contract.
Below is a screenshot of the court's ruling where the meaning of '????' was disputed.
Aktor's lawyers warned that if emojis were accepted as signatures, there would be a flurry of litigation over the interpretation of emojis. Emojis that stand up are used to express agreement, approval, and encouragement in
Judge Keane added, 'This trial does not, and should not, seek to stop the flow of technology and its popular uses. As this is becoming the new reality of Canadian society, the Court will We will have to be prepared to meet new challenges that may arise from the use of emojis and the like.'
'From a legal standpoint, I think the ruling was correct,' said Toronto attorney Jason Lee, who was not directly involved in the case, in response to the groundbreaking ruling granting legal validity to emojis. I commented.
Although digital communications have changed many things, Lee says the basic principles of contract have remained the same for centuries. For example, in the Middle Ages many people were illiterate, so in those days any type of seal could be used as a signature, such as a jumbled line that looked like a signature or a thumbprint as proof of agreement on a document. It is said that it was done.
For this reason, Mr. Lee said, ``Even if it is an emoji, it is a mark, and that mark can be trusted and binding agreement in court,'' he said. I pointed out that I would have to think about it.
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