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Can a Blogroll Be Defamatory?

Posted by kdawson on from the way-out-of-control dept.

An anonymous reader clues us that the wildly litigious Canadian Wayne Crookes, who has been suing the Internet for defamation, has added Michael Geist to his hit list. Geist is a well-known Canadian law professor and blogger. His offense: linking on his blog to site that links to another site that contains material allegedly of a defamatory nature. (Others would characterize that material as historical facts about Crooks's tenure at the helm of the Canadian Green Party.)

6 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Well, it's Canada by phorm · · Score: 5, Informative

    One of the differences up here from the American system is that if (and I hope, when) Mr Crookes loses this case, then he can look forward to paying the costs of the defendants.

    Usually that acts as a strong deterrent against frivolous lawsuits. I guess it doesn't always work, but it'll be nice to see the big fat bill forthcoming.

    1. Re:Well, it's Canada by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      I thought it was the same way in American Courts as well?
      Sort of, but not really. If a plaintiff loses a case they don't automatically have to pay the defendant's costs but a defendant can countersue for court costs and in the case of frivolous lawsuits they'll usually win.
  2. Awarding legal costs to the successful defendant by billstewart · · Score: 4, Informative
    Sometimes a US judge can do that too, without a lawsuit.


    The disadvantage to loser-automatically-pays is that it's extremely risky for an injured individual to sue a large corporation, even if he's right, because the corporation can afford much better lawyers (and therefore has an unequally high chance of winning, even if they're wrong), and usually has much higher legal costs. So if you lose you're not just out your own legal costs and the court's costs, you're out the legal costs of the corporation that had injured you.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  3. Canadian law... by tomstdenis · · Score: 3, Informative

    Section 298 and onward defines Defamatory Libel in the Canadian Code.

    So far "linking" to a page that links to a page that publishes libel isn't illegal. So Geist is very safe provided he doesn't publish [or cause to be published] anything libelous on his own.

    The paper analogy would be like suing the corner store that sells a newspaper that happen to have carried a libelous story. That wouldn't hold up in court, neither will this.

    Tom

    --
    Someday, I'll have a real sig.
  4. Re:Awarding legal costs to the successful defendan by nosferatu1001 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Even if your costs cannot be justified as required to support your case?

    In the UK both sides have a requirement to mitigate any losses incurred, which INCLUDES legal fees. For example, hiring 100 expert witnesses which do not really have a bearing on the case would get those costs removed as frivolous.

    PLus, we have a great small claims court system - for up to £5k claims a filing fee of about £35 gets you a hearing in front of a magistrate. Costs are capped and in general no lawyers are involved - in fact a magistrate is likely to look ill on a company that brings a horde of lawyers to defend a case brought by a member of the public. As a result most companies settle - it costs them too much to want to go through it unless they are 100% sure they'll win.

  5. sue sue sue by christian.einfeldt · · Score: 2, Informative

    sue sue sue sue sue sue

    But then again, sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue
    sue sue sue sue and more

    sue sue sue suesue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue Crookes sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue wacko sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue sue 1310 people sue sue sue This thing is getting a little out of hand, dontcha think?.

    And the really funny thing is, I'm a lawyer.