Archive for January, 2008
Eady listening
Monday, January 28th, 2008So, the law of privacy is largely settled now, David Eady was telling me on Friday. (Heads-up: this is a brazen name-drop, and you are supposed to be suitably impressed by it. David Eady is Justice Eady, the British High Court judge who hears most of the media law cases. He’s also co-author – with Victoria law school’s […]
Handy info for Contempt lawsuits
Monday, January 21st, 2008Today’s DomPost has some useful information for those advising the media on contempt of Court issues. The average length of time between committal and trial, in the District Court and the High Court, is just under a year. Add to that an average of six to nine months between arrest and committal, and you’ve got […]
Canada moves toward expanded libel defence
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008Canada is finally jumping on the US, UK, Australian, South African and NZ bandwagon and providing protection to political (and other public-interest) speech against defamation actions. The Ontario Court of Appeal has created a Reynolds-type privilege for “responsible journalism”. (It’s all obiter, though, and the Canadian Supreme Court has yet to confirm the new direction). […]
A prediction about the Electoral Finance Act
Monday, January 14th, 2008I don’t want to say too much about the Electoral Finance Act. Some of you will know that I have been the spokesperson for the Coalition for Open Government, which generally supported the new law, arguing that it’s much better than the system we used to have, serves important democratic ends, and is much less […]
A potty Potter-right copyright case
Friday, January 11th, 2008Good grief. JK Rowling is joining the Idiot Copyright Lawsuit club, suing the folk who want to publish in book form the material on website the Harry Potter Lexicon. (She’s happy with the website). The book would be a sort of encyclopaedia of Potterworld. The sort of encyclopaedia, in fact, that she would like to write […]
What is this “Google” of which you speak?
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008The Listener’s cover story this week is headed: “Strike the best sites on the internet”. Boy, does it deliver. Apparently, there’s this thing called “Google” that allows you to search trillions of websites. And there are other “search engines”, too. The story even mentions one. And that’s not all. Who knew that the Guardian and the New York Times had websites – that you […]
Did the Minister of Commerce defame Green Acres?
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008On Summer Report this morning, the chief executive of ironing franchise Green Acres accused Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel of defaming his company. He said she told a bunch of scammed investors that Green Acres was under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. In fact, he said, it was the fraudulent franchisee who was under investigation, […]
Scott Watson battle in media
Sunday, January 6th, 2008Keith Hunter thinks he’s not guilty, and has produced a documentary and book about it. North & South and the Herald on Sunday are weighing in on Watson’s side. Meanwhile, the Listener is weighing in for the prosecution, with a cover story featuring interviews with prosecutor Paul Davison QC and Deputy Police Commissioner Rob Pope. Despite the spate […]