Flogging content
Monday, April 26th, 2010RNZ’s Mediawatch this week looked at the ethics of the media’s practice of drawing content, including pictures, from social networking sites. Host Colin Peacock mentioned a Herald on Sunday article that pulled material from a car accident victim’s Facebook site, including a photo of him, adding: Like many people using the social networking websites these […]
Back on the block
Friday, April 23rd, 2010I’m back in Wellington after a sojourn in Melbourne for most of six months. While we’re not talking about media law, I will take the opportunity to post the alternate version of the Australian national anthem I composed for them while I was over there. I have long been impressed by the line “Our home is girt by sea”. It’s […]
Talkin’ bout a revolution
Friday, April 16th, 2010Check out this fascinating panel discussion about super injunctions and the laws of libel and privacy, hosted by the Frontline Club, involving successful defamation defendant Simon Singh, Carter-Ruck’s Nigel Tait, the Guardian’s investigations editor David Leigh, and media lawyer David Hooper. The debate comes amid British government proposals for libel reform (not enacted in time […]
Fair comment defence succeeds
Friday, April 2nd, 2010The Simon Singh fair comment appeal has been released. He’s the guy who said of the British Chiropractic Association that it “happily promotes bogus treatments”. Did this accuse them of conscious dishonesty? Eady J said yes, and it was a statement of fact. There was much hue and cry about the death of free speech. […]
Burning for reform
Thursday, March 25th, 2010Are republicans the only people in NZ who can commit the offence of flag-burning by burning a flag? You might remember that Paul Hopkinson had his conviction for flag-burning overturned in the High Court, because Justice Ellen France held that the offence needed to be interpreted narrowly to provide space for free speech rights under […]
New media law blog
Thursday, March 25th, 2010Check out Inforrm’s terrific blog here. Inforrm stands for “International Forum for Responsible Media”. It contains thoughtful commentary about media law issues, a useful blogroll, and a note of significant new and upcoming cases. Its lead today notes what I’ve been meaning to do for a while: that the evidence that the rest of the […]
Lights out
Friday, March 12th, 2010Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick slams the US Supreme Court’s astonishing decision to overturn the trial judge’s willingness to allow argument about the Californian gay-marriage case to be televised. Oddly enough, the Supreme Court determined that because Perry is a “high profile” case, there is extra reason to turn out the lights. As it explains in its […]
Bare reasoning
Friday, March 12th, 2010In Lowe v New Zealand Police, Clifford J rightly overturns Nick Lowe’s conviction for offensive behaviour for cycling in the nude. It was on World Nude Bike Day, but Mr Lowe, “a committed cyclist and naturist”, doesn’t need that incentive to bike about naked. For example, he competes in the Coast to Coast without clothes […]
Law Commission makes privacy recommendations
Friday, February 26th, 2010There’s another report from the Law Commission on privacy: this one the culmination of many of the others. The report’s not up on the website yet, but it seems that the key recommendations are: no change to the tort established in Hosking v Runting. creation of a new offence of trespassing on someone’s property to […]
UK Parliamentary committee recommends reform of media regulation
Thursday, February 25th, 2010The British Culture, Media and Sport Committee has released its report into press standards, privacy and libel. Recommendations: Privacy tort: No change. In particular, no legal requirement for the media to give notice to people who’s privacy they’re about to invade in an upcoming story, though a failure to provide such notice should hike any […]
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