News

Can an Instagram story land you in court?

This might be the first trial judgment in a case of defamation by ‘gram story, but it surely won’t be the last. To avoid landing yourself in court, be respectful and treat Instagram, like any other public forum, as a place in which your actions can have real consequences.

The case was illustrative of two truths of modern defamation litigation.

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Drone Industry Update – 2021 Communication, Complexity and the Emerging Airspace Ecosystem

While the COVID-19 era has slowed down many industries, the commercial drone industry has embraced the challenge. Increasingly visible public utility applications of drones, including the contactless delivery of goods and medicines …

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Could accusing a person of having COVID-19 get you in legal trouble?

Recent articles depicting an increase in hostility towards those who are allegedly breaching the coronavirus restrictions raise an interesting question: whether an allegation that a person has COVID-19 is defamatory? This article …

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Arresting Developments: Are Drones and Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) ‘Ships’ under Australian Admiralty Law?

Underwater drones, also known as remotely operated underwater vehicles or simply ‘ROVs’, play an important role in various Australian industries, including the oil and gas industry. This article provides a short introduction to just one aspect of the treatment of ROVs in Australian law

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If you’ve called someone ‘a Karen’, have you defamed them?

The ‘Karen’ stereotype is all the rage at the moment. The label has been floating around the internet for a while, but it took off in 2020. It recently entered the consciousness of mainstream Australia when video of the ‘Bunnings Karen’—a conspiracy theorist who refused to wear a mask— went viral.

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COVID-19 Template Recovery Deed assisting SMEs working in Defence

The Template Recovery Deed (Recovery Deed) is a document which was recently created to legally bind currently contracted parties with the Commonwealth, who work with the Department of Defence to assist it in providing services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Geoffrey Rush’s Massive Defamation Win Shows the Risk of Media Rushing to Judgment on #MeToo

Geoffrey Rush’s massive ~$2.87 million defamation victory has been affirmed on appeal. Nationwide News Pty Ltd (Nationwide) appealed Justice Wigney’s April 2019 decision in Rush v Nationwide News Pty Ltd (No 7) [2019] FCA 496 on the basis that the trial judge erred in his findings as to the credibility of the defence’s key witness and that the award of damages made by the trial judge was ‘manifestly excessive’.

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Google as publisher of everything defamatory on the internet: Defteros v Google LLC [2020] VSC 219

Search engines and other ‘internet intermediaries’, like social media companies, are natural targets for defamation litigation. But their liability under Australian defamation law is controversial and often contested, particularly where the defamatory content is authored by third parties.

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What can you do when an anonymous troll is causing your business grief?

Some people are willing to say things online that they would never say to a person’s face. But when trolls comment on a product or service, they can be seriously destructive. We should not assume that every online review is factually accurate. Some are malicious.

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WA Defence Industry: Prepping your business for COVID-19

Just as families around Australia are prepping to weather COVID-19, so are countless businesses, including SME’s working in the WA Defence space. Getting your business ready for a concurrent pandemic and recession …

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