# Is Blackmail generally Illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 12, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782 "2006-12-12T03:54:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zany_Zeolite_Zipper)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/1 "2006-12-12T03:54:33Z")
I don’t hypothetically intend to Blackmail anyone. I’m going to divide the world into four types: [ol] [li]Government Agents (Cops, CCRA agents, etc)[/li][li]Workers/Board members, etc of Publicly Traded companies[/li][li]Private Individuals[/li][li]Owners of Sole proprietorships/Partnerships[/li][/ol] I would expect that hypothetically blackmailing 1 and 2 in the course of their duties would be illegal. But do I have Free Reign to blackmail 3 and 4 (as well as 1 and 2 when they are acting as 3 & 4)? Assume that the blackmail material is not illegal. e.g.: Hypothetically: I catch someone boinking someone who is not their wife. I want money. Can I go up to the guy (later on when he is finished), show him the pictures (taken from off the boinkette’s property, through an open window – this should be a legal way to get hypothetical blackmail material) and try to get him to give me money? Is there a limit to the amount of hypothetical monopoly money I can get out of a boinker before it becomes illegal? What if [the hypothetical actor] decides that I really don’t like the guy, and shows the pictures to his wife after getting her husband’s money; has [the hypothetical actor] done anything illegal? All of the above is hypothetical. Thanks Oh, one more thing, any jusidiction will do, but I’m in Canada/Saskatchewan. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/2 "2006-12-12T04:15:10Z")
Blackmail is illegal, no matter who is the target, or what the big secret is. If the person has a morbid fear that people will find out he is bald, and you blackmail hime with a photo of his bald pate, the fact that everyone in town thinks that he has a squirrel glued to his head doesn’t change the fact that you are a criminal. Tris ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/3 "2006-12-12T06:13:43Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] If the person has a morbid fear that people will find out he is bald, and you blackmail hime with a photo of his bald pate, the fact that everyone in town thinks that he has a squirrel glued to his head doesn’t change the fact that you are a criminal. [/QUOTE] That sounds like a Kids in the Hall sketch, but regardless, how do various jurisdictions define “blackmail”? Certainly they can’t just nix any kind of “If you don’t do A, we do B” contract clause, so does it only apply to things outside the scope of enforceable contracts? ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/4 "2006-12-12T06:35:20Z")
Truns out I was wrong. In the case of the US Code, title 18, the threat must be of informing on someone for a violation of any law. Sorry. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/5 "2006-12-12T07:57:37Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] Truns out I was wrong. In the case of the US Code, title 18, the threat must be of informing on someone for a violation of any law. [/QUOTE] Remember that the US Code is federal law; most crimes are defined by the states in the US. So federal law may be a start, but it doesn’t answer whether certain activity is criminal. For example, in California, blackmail is a form of extortion, and extortion is defined as “the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, … induced by a wrongful use of force or fear…” (Cal. Pen. Code 518.) “Fear” is defined by the Code: > [@](#): > > **Cal. Pen. Code 519** > Fear, such as will constitute extortion, may be induced by a > threat, either: > > 1. To do an unlawful injury to the person or property of the > individual threatened or of a third person; or, > 2. To accuse the individual threatened, or any relative of his, or > member of his family, of any crime; or, > 3. To expose, or to impute to him or them any deformity, disgrace > or crime; or, > 4. To expose any secret affecting him or them. Consequently, in the situation posed in the OP, the “hypothetical actor” likely has committed extortion. This ignores, of course, his civil liability. I know nothing about Canadian law, and therefore must page my eminent colleague, **Northern Piper**. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/6 "2006-12-12T08:20:01Z")
Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t a large portion of civil settlements involve some sort of non-disclosure agreement on the part of the plantiff. Basically they agree not to take the actions that led to their tort all over the media in exchange for cash. How is this not a form of blackmail? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/7 "2006-12-12T08:26:40Z")
Blackmail (legally called coercion) is also prohibited by state law in New York. But I was surprised to see it’s only a misdemeanor: > [@](#): > > Section 135.60 Coercion in the second degree > > A person is guilty of coercion in the second degree when he compels or induces a person to engage in conduct which the latter has a legal right to abstain from engaging in, or to abstain from engaging in conduct in which he has a legal right to engage, by means of instilling in him a fear that, if the demand is not complied with, the actor or another will: > > 1. Cause physical injury to a person; or > > 2. Cause damage to property; or > > 3. Engage in other conduct constituting a crime; or > > 4. Accuse some person of a crime or cause criminal charges to be instituted against him; or > > 5. Expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule; or > > 6. Cause a strike, boycott or other collective labor group action injurious to some person’s business; except that such a threat shall not be deemed coercive when the act or omission compelled is for the benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act; or > > 7. Testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information with respect to another’s legal claim or defense; or > > 8. Use or abuse his position as a public servant by performing some act within or related to his official duties, or by failing or refusing to perform an official duty, in such manner as to affect some person adversely; or > > 9. Perform any other act which would not in itself materially benefit the actor but which is calculated to harm another person materially with respect to his health, safety, business, calling, career, financial condition, reputation or personal relationships. > > Coercion in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/8 "2006-12-12T12:12:00Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Blackmail (legally called coercion) is also prohibited by state law in New York. But I was surprised to see it’s only a misdemeanor: [/QUOTE] The section you quote is Coercion, in which the blackmailer seeks to get the victim to do something (or refrain from doing something) because of a threat. Extortion, where the blackmailer seeks to get money or property because of a threat, is defined in New York Penal Law [section 155.05(e)](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/nycodes/c82/a34.html) to be a form of larceny: > [@](#): > > A person obtains property by extortion when he compels or induces another person to deliver such property to himself or to a third person by means of instilling in him a fear that, if the property is not so delivered, the actor or another will: > (i) Cause physical injury to some person in the future; or > (ii) Cause damage to property; or > (iii) Engage in other conduct constituting a crime; or > (iv) Accuse some person of a crime or cause criminal charges to be instituted against him; or > (v) Expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule; or > (vi) Cause a strike, boycott or other collective labor group action injurious to some person`s business; except that such a threat shall not be deemed extortion when the property is demanded or received for the benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act; or (vii) Testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information with respect to another`s legal claim or defense; or > (viii) Use or abuse his position as a public servant by performing some act within or related to his official duties, or by failing or refusing to perform an official duty, in such manner as to affect some person adversely; or > (ix) Perform any other act which would not in itself materially benefit the actor but which is calculated to harm another person materially with respect to his health, safety, business, calling, career, financial condition, reputation or personal relationships. Larceny is Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E Felony, when “property, regardless of its nature and value, is obtained by extortion.” It is Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony, if the value of the property extorted exceeds $3,000. The crime escalates to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a Class C Felony if either the value of the property exceeds $50,000, or: “The property, regardless of its nature and value, is obtained by extortion committed by instilling in the victim a fear that the actor or another person will (a) cause physical injury to some person in the future, or (b) cause damage to property, or (c) use or abuse his position as a public servant by engaging in conduct within or related to his official duties, or by failing or refusing to perform an official duty, in such manner as to affect some person adversely.” It becomes Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a Class B Felony, when the value of the property exceeds [insert Dr. Evil gesture] one million dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/9 "2006-12-12T15:28:50Z")
Thank god my secret is safe! Huh? Oh. Nevermind. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/10 "2006-12-12T15:51:28Z")
Wasn’t there a guy recently jailed for requesting money from some actress or else he would publish the nude pics he legally took of her? Nude pictures aren’t illegal. Also some woman recently was in trouble for requesting money from Sir William H. Cosby, Esq. PhD, DVM, DVD. because she claimed she was his daughter- what crime is that? If she really is his daughter, she deserves it, if not, where was the harm? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/11 "2006-12-12T17:52:34Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Wasn’t there a guy recently jailed for requesting money from some actress or else he would publish the nude pics he legally took of her? Nude pictures aren’t illegal. [/quote] You have the right to control how your image & likeness is used. The photographer needs the actress’ permission to publish those photos. Demanding money to _not_ publish them is a classic, texbook example of blackmail. > [@](#): > > Also some woman recently was in trouble for requesting money from Sir William H. Cosby, Esq. PhD, DVM, DVD. because she claimed she was his daughter- what crime is that? If she really is his daughter, she deserves it, if not, where was the harm? Assuming she’s an adult, she doesn’t have a right to squadoo from Cosby. Acknowledging her would be the right thing for Cosby to do, (assuming it’s true) but it’s not a legal requirement. She could probably sue to prove paternity, but “requesting” money because she says she’s Cosby’s illegitimate daughter is blackmail. Such an accusation could cause someone’s marriage to fall apart, for example, and even if it didn’t it would be sure to cause family strife. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/12 "2006-12-12T20:14:29Z")
You called, **Campion**? Assuming this is a nice hypothetical discussion and not meant to give any legal advice, under Canadian law there is the federal crime of extortion: [Criminal Code, s. 346](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-46/280843.html#Section-346): > [@](#): > > \*\*Extortion > > 346.\*\* (1) Every one commits extortion who, without reasonable justification or excuse and with intent to obtain anything, by threats, accusations, menaces or violence induces or attempts to induce any person, whether or not he is the person threatened, accused or menaced or to whom violence is shown, to do anything or cause anything to be done. > > **Extortion** > > (1.1) Every person who commits extortion is guilty of an indictable offence and liable > > (a) where a firearm is used in the commission of the offence, to imprisonment for life and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of four years; and > > (b) in any other case, to imprisonment for life. > > **Saving** > > (2) A threat to institute civil proceedings is not a threat for the purposes of this section. To respond to the OP, you’ll see it doesn’t distinguish between different types of victims. Since the criminal law is a matter of federal jurisdiction, this is the offence that applies throughout Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/13 "2006-12-12T20:43:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Wasn’t there a guy recently jailed for requesting money from some actress or else he would publish the nude pics he legally took of her? Nude pictures aren’t illegal. The actress was Cameron Diaz and the photographer was John Rutter. Rutter claimed that he had a model release form signed by Diaz which gave him the right to publish the photos (which were topless not full nude). He also claimed that as a “courtesy” he offered to sell them to her first before putting them on the open market. Diaz decided this was extortion and convinced the police to arrest Rutter. Rutter’s defense fell apart when it was found that the signature on the release form was a forgery. Rutter claimed that his former assistant had handled all his paperwork and he had assumed it was an authentic signature but he was found guilty and sent to prison. In my personal opinion, Rutter was railroaded. From a legal standpoint, the worst crime he was proven to have committed was to have not obtained an authentic signature on a model release form - hardly a crime deserving almost four years of imprisonment. And even if Rutter had knowingly falsified Diaz’ signature, nobody was disputing that Diaz in turn had knowingly posed for the original photos - it wasn’t like Rutter had been snapping pictures through her bedroom window. Rutter may have been sleazy but Diaz was an adult and should have taken some responsibility for her own actions. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/14 "2006-12-13T03:05:44Z")
Seems to me like she did take some responsibility by refusing to sign a model release. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/15 "2006-12-13T03:35:08Z")
In Michigan, extortion is more limited: > [@](#): > > 750.213 Malicious threats to extort money. > > Sec. 213. > > Malicious threats to extort money—Any person who shall, either orally or by a written or printed communication, maliciously threaten to accuse another of any crime or offense, or shall orally or by any written or printed communication maliciously threaten any injury to the person or property or mother, father, husband, wife or child of another with intent thereby to extort money or any pecuniary advantage whatever, or with intent to compel the person so threatened to do or refrain from doing any act against his will, shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not more than 20 years or by a fine of not more than 10,000 dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/16 "2006-12-13T03:38:45Z")
Here is a previous thread where we talked about extortion and related crimes: [Are You Blackmailing Someone if You Don't Ask Them for Money? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=342636) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/17 "2006-12-13T04:00:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Seems to me like she did take some responsibility by refusing to sign a model release. Diaz tried to portray herself as the blameless victim of a crime. But she had voluntarily posed for the topless photos so they wouldn’t have existed without her co-operation. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/18 "2006-12-13T04:16:10Z")
No one is suggesting that Diaz didn’t willingly pose for the photos. There is a difference between posing for photos and posing for photos and giving permission for those photos to be published. She did not give permission for the photos to be published, so when money was demanded of her in exhange for giving her the chance to prevent publication of photos that she never agrred to allow to be published, she became the blameless victim of that crime. The idea that Diaz is somehow ducking her responsibility for posing topless because she refused to accede to a blackmailer is bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/19 "2006-12-13T06:33:57Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] You called, **Campion**? [/QUOTE] 😉 > [@threemae](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t a large portion of civil settlements involve some sort of non-disclosure agreement on the part of the plantiff. Basically they agree not to take the actions that led to their tort all over the media in exchange for cash. > > How is this not a form of blackmail? Interestingly, this is an issue that’s come up before. Some people argue that settlement agreements that include a non-disclosure provision are against public policy, at least in areas like product liability or toxic tort. They argue that courts shouldn’t enforce provisions like that because it stifles the public’s ability to learn about the purportedly dangerous product. And they argue that conditioning settlement – or paying for silence – is a form of blackmail. I haven’t been able to find any of the relevant articles, but they’re pretty interesting arguments. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782/20 "2006-12-13T18:05:10Z")
Got it. But what about this scenario- would it be illegal? Same photog has same topless photos. Tells Diaz “I can’t publish these because I don’t have your permission. I have no plans on ever letting anyone view them in any form. But I am short on rent money and if you would like to buy them, I am willing to sell them to you. If you chose not to buy them, I will put them in a desk drawer and never pull them out again.”? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackmail-generally-illegal/383782.md?page=2)