Gary Hevey Gordon & Jackson 9225 8075 9225 7333 ...

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succeeded in both actions when the respective juries found he had been
defamed. In the Yahoo! matter Kaye J assessed damages at $225,000 plus
interest and costs, and in the Google matter, Beach J assessed damages at
$200,000. There were slight differences in the findings by each of the juries but
on any reading of the cases the assessment of damages was well toward the
maximum amount available to the plaintiff under the Act. I shall return later to
amounts awarded by way of damages since the introduction of the Act.
15. Section 9 of the Act restricts those corporations who can sue for defamation
to those who might broadly be described as, not-for-profit corporations, or a
corporation that employs fewer than ten persons and is not related to another
corporation; so long as either of such corporations is not a public body.
16. As mentioned in relation to Mr Gangitano’s matter his action lapsed with his
death. No cause of action for or against a deceased person (including a
personal representative of the deceased) is open even if the action was
commenced before the death of the person 12 .
17. The choice of law, a question that was often a very real one before the
introduction of the uniform legislation, is now governed by factors set out in
section 11 of the Act. If publication is within one jurisdiction then that will be
where the action is, if in more than one jurisdiction then it is where the harm
occasioned by the publication has its closest connection and, in deciding that,
the court will take into account where the plaintiff was ordinarily resident or the
extent of the publication in each relevant jurisdiction.
12 Section 10
Gary Hevey
Gordon & Jackson
9225 8075 9225 7333