Category: defamation

Tamiz v Google Inc and another – WLR Daily

Posted February 21st, 2013 in appeals, defamation, internet, law reports, publishing by sally

Tamiz v Google Inc and another [2013] EWCA Civ 68; [2013] WLR (D) 65

“An internet service provider which supplied a platform for blogs and various tools to assist the blogger, and which was able to remove or block access to blogs when alerted to the fact that they breached its own terms and conditions, could be potentially liable for defamatory comments posted on a blog once it had received notification and had had sufficient time to act. A defence might be available under section 1 of the Defamation Act 1996, but if the potential liability would be so trivial because of the short period of time between notification of the complaint and removal of the offending material, the maintenance of the proceedings could not be justified.”

WLR Daily, 14th February 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Court of Appeal gives judgment on credit reference agencies and accuracy of personal data – Panopticon

Posted February 21st, 2013 in appeals, consumer credit, data protection, defamation, loans, news by sally

“The fourth data protection principle requires that ‘personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date’. It does not, however ‘impose an absolute and unqualified obligation on [data controllers] to ensure the entire accuracy of the data they maintain. Questions of reasonableness arise in the application of the fourth principle, as paragraph 7 of Part II of Schedule I spells out.’ This statement by Davis LJ (at para. 80) encapsulates the case of Smeaton v Equifax plc [2013] EWCA Civ 108, in which the Court of Appeal handed down judgment today.”

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Panopticon, 20th February 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Can Google be sued for the content of blogs on its platform? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 18th, 2013 in defamation, internet, news, publishing, vicarious liability by sally

“The Court of Appeal has ruled that in principle, an internet service provider that allowed defamatory material to remain on a blog hosted on its platform after it had been notified of a complaint might be a ‘publisher’ of this material, although in this case the probable damage to the complainant’s reputation over a short period was so trivial that libel proceedings could not be justified.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 17th February 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Hillsborough families to sue Kelvin MacKenzie over ‘reckless’ coverage – The Guardian

Posted February 18th, 2013 in compensation, defamation, media, news, police, victims by sally

“Kelvin MacKenzie, the former editor of the Sun, faces being sued for malfeasance over his newspaper’s coverage of the Hillsborough football disaster.”

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The Guardian, 16th February 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Google must act quickly on libellous Blogger posts, says appeal court – The Guardian

Posted February 15th, 2013 in defamation, internet, news by sally

“Google may have to act quicker to remove potentially libellous posts from its Blogger platform following a court of appeal ruling in London.”

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The Guardian, 14th February 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

What is a good reason for departing from a mandatory costs budget? A practical view from the Bar – Littleton Chambers

Posted February 15th, 2013 in budgets, costs, defamation, news by sally

“The costs budgeting provisions of the Jackson Report are among the most significant issues facing litigators today. One key concern has been that parties and their legal advisers face having otherwise recoverable costs disallowed if they fail to comply with the requirements concerning costs budgets. Those concerns were heightened by the decision in Sylvia Henry v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2012] EWHC 90218 (Costs) to disallow £268,832 of costs on the grounds that the claimant had failed to comply with rules concerning costs budgeting in PD 51 (see Legal update, Costs management: first decision under Defamation Proceedings Pilot Scheme). Those rules formed part of the Defamation Proceedings Pilot Scheme, on which the case was the first decided authority. The decision was taken to have considerably wider significance because of the similarity between the provisions of that pilot scheme and the main elements of the impending Jackson reforms.”

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Littleton Chambers, 6th February 2013

Source: www.littletonchambers.com

Judge condemns Salford University for failed libel case against ex-lecturer – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 12th, 2013 in defamation, judges, news, universities by tracey

“Salford University, which charges students up to £9,000 a year in tuition fees
and axed 60 posts last year, was accused by a judge of abusing the High Court’s
processes in its actions against Dr Gary Duke.”

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Daily Telegraph, 12th February 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Peers pass low-cost arbitration law for victims of press defamation – The Guardian

Posted February 6th, 2013 in arbitration, bills, complaints, costs, damages, defamation, media, news, victims by sally

“A cross-party alliance of peers hasinjected new momentum into the stalling cross-party talks on the future of press regulation by passing a law to implement a key plank of the Leveson report.”

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The Guardian, 5th February 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Leveson report: Lords unveil proposals in frustration at lack of progress – The Guardian

Posted February 5th, 2013 in arbitration, bills, defamation, media, news, parliament, reports by tracey

“Frustration in the Lords at the lack of progress over the Leveson report has led four peers to table measures to introduce a low-cost arbitration service for defamation, as recommended by Lord Justice Leveson in the defamation bill.”

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The Guardian, 4th February 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Cruddas wins libel payout over former Blair aide’s Twitter slurs – The Guardian

Posted February 4th, 2013 in damages, defamation, internet, news by tracey

“Peter Cruddas, the former Conservative Party co-treasurer, has won £45,000 in libel damages plus costs from a former private secretary to Tony Blair who repeatedly alleged he was a criminal who flouted electoral law.”

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The Guardian, 4th February 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Henry solicitor: CA ruling does not undermine Jackson’s costs management reforms – Litigation Futures

Posted February 1st, 2013 in budgets, costs, defamation, news by tracey

“The Court of Appeal’s ruling on costs budgets earlier this week has not undermined the Jackson reforms, the claimant solicitor from the case has argued.”

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Litigation Futures, 1st February 2013

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Naomi Campbell wins damages from Telegraph over ‘elephant polo’ claims – The Guardian

Posted January 31st, 2013 in damages, defamation, media, news by sally

“Naomi Campbell has received an apology and ‘substantial’ libel damages from the Daily Telegraph over an article that wrongly claimed she organised an elephant polo tournament in India.”

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The Guardian, 31st January 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Baby P Sun libel case: social worker could recover legal costs – The Guardian

Posted January 28th, 2013 in budgets, costs, defamation, news by sally

“A social worker involved in the Baby P scandal who was facing a £300,000 shortfall in her legal bill following a successful libel action against the Sun has been told she now has a chance of recovering her costs following a landmark court of appeal judgment.”

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The Guardian, 28th January 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Court of Appeal overturns Senior Costs Judge and allows recovery of £300,000 budget overspend – Litigation Futures

Posted January 28th, 2013 in appeals, budgets, costs, defamation, news by sally

“A social worker involved in the Baby P case can recover £300,000 in costs from a successful libel claim against The Sun after the Court of Appeal ruled that she had good reason to depart from the court-approved costs budget, the Court of Appeal has ruled.”

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Litigation Futures, 28th January 2013

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

ISPs and defamation law: hold fire, Robert Jay – The Guardian

Posted January 25th, 2013 in defamation, internet, news, publishing by tracey

“Defining internet service providers as publishers within defamation law would be totally unworkable.”

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The Guardian, 25th January 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Briton who took on Sergei Magnitsky network faces libel case in UK – The Independent

Posted January 25th, 2013 in corruption, defamation, news by tracey

“A former Moscow police officer is suing a British businessman who exposed how a network of corrupt officials and shadowy criminal underworld figures were behind the largest tax fraud in Russian history. Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Karpov has launched libel and defamation proceedings in the High Court against William Browder, a millionaire hedge-fund magnate who has campaigned against corruption within the Russian government after his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was tortured and died in police custody.”

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The Independent, 24th January 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Google, Facebook and Twitter may ‘face EU defamation and privacy cases’ – The Guardian

Posted January 24th, 2013 in defamation, EC law, internet, news, privacy by sally

“Google, Facebook and Twitter’s decision to establish their European bases in Dublin has opened the internet giants up to EU defamation and privacy laws like never before, a libel lawyer has warned.”

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The Guardian, 24th January 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Media law trends in 2013: what’s on the horizon – The Guardian

Posted January 24th, 2013 in advertising, copyright, defamation, internet, media, news by sally

“From libel reform to ambush marketing, our experts highlight the key media law trends in 2013.”

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The Guardian, 24th January 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

How UK libel laws undermined Sunday Times in Lance Armstrong case – The Guardian

Posted January 22nd, 2013 in burden of proof, defamation, drug abuse, media, news, sport by sally

“The legal battle with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong which cost the Sunday Times almost £1m after it suggested he took banned substances shows how difficult it is to pursue investigations under British libel laws, with the burden of proof heavily stacked against publishers, according to those who worked on the original stories.”

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The Guardian, 22nd January 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Judge rejects claim couple were ‘ruined’ by Barclays – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 16th, 2013 in banking, contracts, defamation, negligence, news by sally

“A millionaire property developer and his wife who claimed they were brought to complete ruination by a simple banking error have lost their High Court claim for more than £3 million in damages.”

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Daily Telegraph, 15th January 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk