preview

Media Law: Defamation, Copyright, Etc

Decent Essays

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

MEDIA LAW - 2007

1. DEFAMATION

1. Why a law of defamation?

Every member of society has an interest in retaining his or her personal reputation and standing. All members of the community also have an interest in a free flow of information and communication. There is a tension between these two interests.

The law represents a balance between personal interests in reputation on one hand and community interests in free speech and an uninhibited flow of information and opinions on the other.

The law of defamation in Australia has, until recently, lacked uniformity. Given the advances in technology and the growth of national publications, the pressure for …show more content…

It is not necessary that the plaintiff be named. The test will be whether the words would reasonably lead people acquainted with the plaintiff to the conclusion that he was the person referred to : Knuppfer v London Express [1944] AC 116.

If a defamatory statement made of a class or group can reasonably be understood to refer to every member of it, each one has a cause of action. In Pryke v The Advertiser Newspapers Ltd (1984) 37 SASR 175, a 'Letter to the Editor' published in The Advertiser criticised the conduct of proceedings by an Industrial Commissioner, without specifying by name which of the 4 Commissioners had been concerned. All 4 Commissioners succeeded on the basis that the letter was defamatory of each of them. In Bjelke Petersen v Warburton [1987] 2 QdR 465, the Leader of the Opposition made statements about the 'government's corruption and its mismanagement', and said he would be asking questions about 'which Ministers had their hands in the till'. This was held capable of being defamatory of each of the 18 members of the Ministry. However, if the class is composed of too many people, then the matter will be incapable of identifying any particular individual.

Inappropriate use of photographs as 'background' to unrelated publications can lead to identification.

4. Parties

Not only individuals can sue. Partnerships or

Get Access