Former diplomat The Australian said had “knowingly assisted drug dealers” loses his appeal … NSW Court of Appeal finds ample evidence for the jury’s findings of truth ... more
Year: 2012
IP news here, and there
Innovation Patents review update … Chinese telco boss attempts to assuage security fears … More skirmishes in Apple v Samsung war … Tablets excluded from US digital copyright exemptions … Six-strike Copyright Alert System details … Germany’s Pirate Party all at sea ... more
Another candle in the wind for Sir Elton
Sir Elton John recently lost his defamation action against The Times ... Lawyer for the paper Stephen Collins looks at the summary judgment and at the star’s libel law legacy in the UK ... more
Robert McJannett v Linda Gibbs & Anor
Embarrassing statement of claim struck out in WA … Plaintiff did not provide the email accusing him of being a drug addict … Supreme Court of Victoria refuses plaintiff’s opportunistic bid to raise malice in reply to statutory qualified privilege ... more
Beyond a joke? Social media, free speech and “grossly offensive” communications
Free speech at issue again after the jailing of a British teenager for making “grossly offensive” jokes on his Facebook page … In this Inforrm article, Eloise le Santo asks whether sick “jokes” and offensive comments should be liable to criminal prosecution ... more
IP news here, and there
Justice Heydon waxes lyrical in plain packaging judgment … Honduras complains … IP Australia to review drug patent law … Google Books settles with publishers … Libraries unscathed … Lime Wire sued … Apple iPad appeal dismissed … Cloud copying levies up in the air … Japan criminalises unauthorised downloads … Tic Tacs box not a trademark ... more
C v Holland
New Zealand recognises a tort of privacy in a landmark decision involving a surreptitious video recording … In this Inforrm piece Hugh Tomlinson QC looks at the judgment in light of UK, US, European and Australian law ... more
Journalistic ethics 101
Cash for Comment – or a free ticket for a favourable article – is alive and well at one of the nation’s leading schools of journalism, UTS ... more
High stakes
Freedom of speech at stake in two recent High Court hearings … Adelaide street preachers challenge council bylaw prohibiting “preaching”, “canvassing” or “haranguing” ... Radical Muslim cleric challenges criminal law under which he was charged with sending “offensive” material through the post ... more
Harbour Radio Pty Ltd v Keysar Trad
Mixed result … High Court finds radio station 2GB was protected by “reply-to-attack” qualified privilege when it defamed Muslim community spokesman Keysar Trad … Truth and contextual truth go back to the NSW Court of Appeal ... more
Sorry state of affairs
Saying sorry – Alan Jones and Jonathan Holmes … Freedom of Information stoush over bureaucratic stuff up … Waterhouse junior enters litigation stakes … Ex-copper sues over pulped book … Channel Seven journalist sues over child sex allegations … Humphrey B. Bear’s owner sues over threat-to-kill allegations … NRL commentator settles with Ray Hadley … NSW A-G in settlement negotiations … Vivienne Dye’s last hurrah ... more
Carina Trimingham v Associated Newspapers
The curious case of Carina Trimingham … Permission to appeal granted over invasion of privacy and harassment claims … This Inforrm piece asks if repeated references to her as a “crop-haired, Doc Marten-wearing lesbian-turned-bisexual” amount to harassment ... more