Category: Seminars, interviews & commentary

The Supreme Court of Canada breaks new ground by creating a defence of “responsible communication” in defamation cases involving matters of public importance. New York-based Michael Cameron reviews the judgment and its impact on the media and those who would stifle freedom of speech ... more

Social activist and legal academic Julian Disney took over as chair of the Australian Press Council in December 2009. His appointment followed a year of funding cuts and robust debate about the Council’s role and future. In this interview, Professor Disney talks about how he sees it ... more

Gail Hambly has been Group General Counsel at Fairfax for sixteen years. In this interview, she shares her perspective on the past, present and future of journalism – in light of a changing media law landscape ... more

A proposed overhaul of legislation governing access to court documents in NSW has failed to address key concerns. Prue Innes examines where the draft Bill goes fundamentally wrong and asks why it can’t accommodate the realities of court reporting by enshrining public access in the public interest ... more

Johnson Winter & Slattery’s recent media law seminar proved a fertile battleground for discussion about the role and value of juries, the failures of the new uniform Defamation Act and whether or not a topless waitress is a prostitute ... more

The closer the Obama administration comes to ratifying new federal shield laws for journalists, the more they resemble “protections” under Bush. Michael Cameron reports on the pervasive power of national security interests that will compel journalists to reveal their sources ... more

The Media Law Resource Centre’s conference was held recently over two days in London. Stephen Collins, who led the session on libel law developments, reports on the highlights ... more

Justice Peter McClellan was appointed NSW’s Chief Judge at Common Law in 2005 after a distinguished career at the bar and on the bench. In this interview, he shares his sometimes-controversial views on juries, the new uniform Defamation Act, costs, damages and the media ... more

Stephen Collins reports from London on Justice Eady’s unexpected landmark Google judgment, which found search engines are not publishers in any liable sense ... more

Three years after the introduction of the Defamation Act (2005), are the states and territories putting the same spin on the national uniform defamation laws? Michaela Whitbourn looks at the evidence so far ... more

Melbourne University Professor of Law Megan Richardson examines the development of privacy law from Kant’s dignitarian approach to breach of confidence – and suggests that a different language of privacy is required to deal with modern reality ... more

Sir Elton in yet another (libel) suit, not quite malicious goings-on in council and “vicious” publication to one’s wife. Stephen Collins reports from London on three recent libel decisions dealing with satire, malice and limited publication ... more