Archive
24 May

Why hasn’t Mayor Rob Ford sued the Toronto Star?

<p><strong>By J-Source Law editor Thomas Rose</strong></p>

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2 May

Opinion: On Brian Burke, journalism and Internet anonymity

<p><strong>By Thomas Rose</strong></p><p>Let’s face it; the reason most people are talking about Brian Burke right now is because he’s a well known powerful member of the hockey world who is defending himself against allegations of sexual impropriety involving a younger, attractive sportscaster who is not his wife.  If the case ever makes it to trial, and most cases involving defamation do not, the outcome will likely hinge on how the defence frames the issue. </p>

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5 Apr

Toronto Star public editor defends use of anonymous sources for story on Ford’s alleged alcohol abuse

<p><strong>By Tamara Baluja</strong></p><p><em>Toronto Star</em> public editor Kathy English defended the newspaper’s use of anonymous sources in the story about Mayor Rob Ford’s alleged drinking problems.</p>

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12 Feb

Time to abolish outdated defamatory libel offence

<p>Prosecuting and jailing citizens for defamatory libel smacks of show trials we’d expect from countries such as Russia and China, says media lawyer and Law Times columnist Alan Shanoff. Yet the archaic law remains on the books and was recently used to imprison an Ottawa restaurant owner for publishing false material concerning an online restaurant reviewer.

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8 Feb

Criminal libel probe of N.B. blogger questioned

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19 Oct

Top court protects online links from libel claims

<p>Internet users who post hyperlinks to libellous material posted on other websites cannot be sued for repeating the libel, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled. The Oct. 19 ruling in <em>Crookes v. Newton</em> protects one of the most basic functions of the Internet -- the ability of users to share links to material posted online, even material they have not fully reviewed and they may not agree with.

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24 Sep

Court rulings dissect responsible communication defence

<p><em>It has been almost two years since the Supreme Court of Canada created the libel defence of responsible communication on matters of public interest -- long enough for at least three courts to weigh in on what journalists must do to meet its criteria. In this column in the upcoming issue of the CAJ's Media magazine, J-Source's law section editor <strong>Dean Jobb</strong> explores how the new defence is being interpreted.</em></p>

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13 Sep

Ruling relaxes libel rules for political bloggers

<p>An Ontario judge has tossed a libel action against three political bloggers, arguing that web-based political discussions are forums for “the parry and thrust” of vigorous debate and participants whose reputations have been attacked should fight back with words, not legal action.</p>

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18 Jan

What are the legal issues when retelling a potentially libelous life story?

Question: I work in the lovely City of Kenora, where an elder has asked me to help her tell her life story. The parts about living off the land and […]

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11 Jan

New wiki proposes elements of “responsible” journalism

What is “responsible” journalism? Celebrating the first anniversary of an epochal Canadian libel judgment that will see this question litigated for years to come, a group of graduate students has […]

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