The Victorian Supreme Court’s recent $200,000 Google damages payout follows a previous successful action against Yahoo!7 … Earlier this year, media lawyers Leanne O’Donnell and Matthew Gardner looked at why the Yahoo!7 judgment raises more questions than answers ... more
Year: 2012
Robbie Waterhouse v The Age Company Ltd & Ors, Robbie Waterhouse v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd & Anor, Robbie Waterhouse v Fairfax Digital Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd
NSW Supreme Court Justice Henric Nicholas orders jury of 12 to hear defamation action brought by controversial bookie Robbie Waterhouse … NSW Court of Appeal rejects leave to appeal amendments to particulars of malice because the application was filed out of time ... more
Eugene Liu v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd
Former fund manager Eugene Liu wins part of his appeal against Fairfax over the media company’s access to ASIC documents … Correspondence concerning criminal proceedings remains unprotected by privilege ... more
The BBC, Lord McAlpine and libel law
The BBC’s case of mistaken identity in relation to falsely accused “Tory paedophile” Lord McAlpine is proving costly in more ways than one … This Inforrm article argues that it brings into question the proposed new public interest (Reynolds) defence ... more
IP news here, and there
Australian universities question changes to Defence Trade Controls Bill ... Key changes to Trade Marks Act ... New government IP report to drive innovation … Movie industry fallout after US election … Patent licensing firm win against Apple … Corrections order for Apple … Pfizer loses Canadian patent for Viagra ... more
Milorad Trkulja v Google Inc LLC & Google Australia Pty Ltd
Melbourne man awarded $200,000 over defamatory website accessed via Google … Michael Trkulja’s second victory against a search engine … Partial success for innocent dissemination defence … more
Privacy protection – do we need a statutory tort?
Minter Ellison partner and leading media lawyer Peter Bartlett looks at where the push for privacy protection is at, here and overseas … And in what direction an Australian statutory tort of privacy is likely to move ... more
Defamation, privacy, the Finkelstein Report & the regulation of the media
Former High Court Justice Ian Callinan argues against the recommendations of the Finkelstein Report and for radical revision of defamation law and a statutory tort of privacy … Read the full text of a speech he delivered to the Samuel Griffith Society annual conference ... more
Zia Qureshi v Fairfax Media Pty Ltd
Tangled web of international finance begins to unravel as one time business high flyer Zia Qureshi faces an intense, forensic cross-examination from Fairfax’s barrister Alec Leopold SC … The plaintiff has trouble recalling ... more
Zia Qureshi v Fairfax Media Pty Ltd
Former high-flying management consultant says two articles published in The Australian Financial Review destroyed his business … Last of the defamation actions under the old Act goes to trial in the NSW Supreme Court ... more
Question Time – Grant McAvaney
Former Minter Ellison partner and lawyer for ninemsn Grant McAvaney now runs the litigation practice at ABC Legal … He agreed to share his views on a range of media law issues as well the challenges facing public broadcasters and journalists ... more