In a case in the Victorian Supreme Court in Australia, a 19th
century UK case has been given as authority in a dispute over
internet publishing. The 1848 case involving the Duke of Brunswick,
his servant, and a London newspaper carries was said to carry
important implications for laws concerning internet publishing.
Geoffrey Robertson QC is defending the US-based business
information organisation Dow Jones against defamation claims
brought by Joseph Gutnick, an Australian entrepreneur and religious
and sporting personality. Gutnick claims that he was defamed in an
article by Dow Jones on the internet.
The current hearing is set to decide whether the trial should go
ahead in the US or Victoria. Gutnick says that because the article
was accessible to people in Victoria, it defamed him where he is
best known. Therefore, he argues, the hearing should be in
Melbourne. Dow Jones argues that the article was written by an
American, in the US, and intended for consumption in the US.
Robertson says that the location of any future defamation trial
hinges on where the internet article was published and what
constitutes an act of publication. Citing the 19th century case, he
maintains that publication on the internet occurs at the point
where the material is uploaded to a web server.
In the Duke of Brunswick case, the Duke had sent his servant to
a newspaper office for a copy of a publication that contained libel
against him. The court ruled that the act of publication occurred
when the servant took delivery of the paper.
The cases continues.
