Category Archives: Damages

Hockey hoists Fairfax on its own placard: Hockey v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd [2015] FCA 652

Posted on July 14, 2015 by

On 5 May 2014, Fairfax, through the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Canberra Times, ran a series of articles about a Liberal Party fundraising entity called the North Sydney Forum. North Sydney is the seat held by Australia’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Damages, Defamatory meaning, government and political matter, News, Qualified privilege, Trial, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Crushed Rock damages ruled too soft on appeal: Jeffrey & Curnow v Giles [2015] VSCA 70

Posted on May 25, 2015 by

Jeffrey and Curnow were defamed by statements made by Virginia Giles on a website in 2011. The plaintiffs were directors of a company, Casacir Pty Ltd, which operates a quarry in the south of Victoria. The defendant’s company owned the … Continue reading →

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Facebook and Twitter damages music to teacher’s ears: Mickle v Farley [2013] NSWDC 295

Posted on February 16, 2015 by

Orange is a large rural town in Western New South Wales and its High School became a site for a landmark defamation verdict. Yes, this case happened a while ago, but in our new age of social media, an interesting … Continue reading →

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Defendants’ go all-in: Plaintiff calls their bluff and wins the $340,000 pot: Polias v Ryall & Ors [2014] NSWSC 1692

Posted on February 9, 2015 by

The plaintiff and four defendants were poker players used to playing high stakes games: hands worth thousands of dollars. In the middle of 2012, the plaintiff and the first defendant went to Las Vegas for a tournament and shared a … Continue reading →

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Mildura Water Corporation Appeal hosed down: Lower Murray Urban and Rural Water Corporation v Di Masi & Ors [2014] VSCA 104

Posted on January 21, 2015 by

In 2012, a jury in the Supreme Court of Victoria sat in Mildura, a small orange-picking town on the border of NSW, for 22 days (there were a further four days of legal argument) and heard a defamation case. At … Continue reading →

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Google: “I Tort I Misused Private Information”: Vidal-Hall & Ors v Google Inc [2014[ EWHC 13 (QB)

Posted on January 30, 2014 by

As everyone knows, Google knows everything. Google collates and compiles information on virtually every search ever done on every computer, and uses this information to create money from selling advertising space on user’s screens. Google analyses that information to deduce … Continue reading →

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No tort for breach of privacy in South Australian epic: Sands v South Australia [2013] SASC 44

Posted on April 18, 2013 by

In a trial that ran for 55 days late last year and concluding in February this year, the plaintiff, Derick John Sands, has lost his claim for defamation, as well as other claims including a breach of confidence and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute privilege, Damages, Identification, News, Privacy, Publication, Reciprocal duty-interest, Trial, Truth | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Hong Kong newspaper keeps its damages: Oriental Daily Publisher Ltd & Kwan v Ming Pao Holdings Ltd & Ors, in the Court of Final Appeal of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Final Appeal No. 1 of 2012, 26 September 2012

Posted on April 12, 2013 by

As common as Hayley’s Comet, in Hong Kong, the defamation jury trial appears about once every 80 years. So although this particular decision was some months ago, I don’t think I will be around in 2093 for the next one, … Continue reading →

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Emphatic win for Aspergers’ Advocate: Gluyas v John Best Junior [2013] VSC 3

Posted on February 1, 2013 by

Now 47, Philip Gluyas was 31 when he was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. On the one hand, Asperger’s can mean that a person has difficulties empathizing with people and dealing with social interactions that many people take forgranted. On the … Continue reading →

Posted in Damages, Defamatory meaning, Trial | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Murray Water Corporation sent down the river for $295,000: Belbin& Others v Lower Murray Urban and Rural Water Corporation [2012] VSC 535

Posted on January 9, 2013 by

In the northwest of Victoria sits the orange-picking town of Mildura on the Murray River. To get there from Melbourne usually involves a 6-hour drive or a small flight on a plane with a flip-top lid. But it was there … Continue reading →

Posted in Damages, fair and accurate report, Qualified privilege, Reciprocal duty-interest, Trial, Truth | Tagged , | 1 Comment