Dow Jones & Co. of New York, best known as the publisher of
The Wall Street Journal, won the right to appeal in an Australian
High Court ruling on Friday. It follows a decision in August by the
Victoria Supreme Court which said that Australian entrepreneur
Joseph Gutnick could bring his case against the publisher over an
allegedly defamatory article about him that was posted by Dow Jones
on one of its web sites.
Mr Gutnick argued that because the article could be downloaded
and read in Australia, the hearing should be held there, where he
was most defamed. Dow Jones argued that the article was written by
an American, in the US, and intended for consumption in the US.
Therefore, it should be held there.
The date of the hearing has still to be fixed.
In the hearing in Victoria, the judge wrote:
"To say that the country where the article
is written, edited and uploaded and where the publisher does its
business, must be the forum is an invitation to entrench the United
States, the primary home of much of internet publishing, as the
forum. [Dow Jones'] argument that it would be unfair for the
publisher to have to litigate in the multitude of jurisdictions in
which its statements are downloaded and read, must be balanced
against the world-wide inconvenience caused to litigants, from
Outer Mongolia to the Outer Barcoo, frequently not of notable
means, who would at enormous expense and inconvenience have to
embark upon the formidable task of suing in the USA".
