JWR Productions Australia Pty Ltd v Duncan-Watt (No 2)

• Jurisdiction: Australia Federal only
• Judge: THAWLEY J
• Judgment Date: 05 March 2020
• Neutral Citation: [2020] FCA 236
• Court: Federal Court
• Date: 05 March 2020

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

JWR Productions Australia Pty Ltd v Duncan-Watt (No 2) [2020] FCA 236

File numbers:	NSD 266 of 2017NSD 327 of 2017
Judge:	THAWLEY J
Date of judgment:	5 March 2020
Catchwords:	DEFAMATION – hybrid publication – Facebook Post providing a link to a newspaper article – whether imputations conveyed – one defamatory imputation conveyed ; DEFAMATION – defences – justification – defence made out – where respondent pleaded four contextual imputations – whether the alleged contextual imputations were conveyed – two contextual imputations conveyed which were substantially true – whether the contextual imputations operate as a complete or partial defence – fair comment and honest opinion – defence not made out – publication of public documents – defence not made out ; CONSUMER LAW – claim under Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) Sch 2, Australian Consumer Law (ACL) for misleading or deceptive conduct –representations made to a journalist – representations in a Facebook Post which provided a link to a newspaper article – whether conduct was “in trade or commerce” – whether the representations were in fact conveyed by the relevant conduct – whether representation a statement of fact or opinion – whether the representations conveyed were misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive ; CONSUMER LAW – claim under the ACL for misleading or deceptive conduct – whether website content conveyed representations about authorship of a novel – whether the conduct was in “trade or commerce” – whether the representations were in fact conveyed by the relevant conduct – claim for declaratory relief – whether any benefit to making of the declaration – whether financial loss or damage sustained from the conduct – declaratory relief refused ; COPYRIGHT – whether infringement of copyright – whether the work was an adaption – claim for injunctive relief – copyright claim dismissed ; COPYRIGHT – whether use of photographs on website was an infringement of copyright – whether copyright was assigned as alleged – whether licence granted – where photographs removed a reasonable time after demand ; TORTS – detinue – whether property wrongfully detained – whether sufficient demand made – whether respondent made clear and unqualified refusal to comply with the demand – whether the refusal to comply was unreasonable – whether goods were detained for a reasonable time
Legislation:	Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) s 6(3), Sch 2 cl 18 Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) ss 10, 13, 31, 36, 115, 196 Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) ss 4, 25, 26, 28 Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW) s 4, Div 2 ss 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, Div 3 ss 33, 34
Cases cited:	.au Domain Administration Ltd v Domain Names Australia Pty Ltd (2004) 207 ALR 521 ACCC v Coles Supermarkets (Australia) Pty Ltd (2014) 317 ALR 73 ACCC v Kimberly‑Clark Australia Pty Ltd [2019] FCA 992 ACCC v Telstra Corp Ltd (2007) 244 ALR 470 ACCC v TPG Internet Pty Ltd (2013) 250 CLR 640 Adidas AG v Pacific Brands Footwear Pty Ltd (No 4) (2013) 308 ALR 143 Amalgamated Television Services v Marsden (1998) 43 NSWLR 158 Anyanwu and Another v South Bank Student Union and Another (No 2), The Times Law Reports, December 5, 2003, 678 Aqua-Marine Marketing Pty Ltd v Pacific Reef Fisheries (Australia) Pty Ltd (No 5) [2012] FCA 908 Bank of New South Wales v The Commonwealth (1948) 76 CLR 1 Banks v Ferrari [2000] NSWSC 874 Besser v Kermode (2011) NSWLR 157 Brisbane City Council v Group Projects Pty Ltd (1979) 145 CLR 143 Butcher v Lachlan Elder Realty Pty Ltd (2004) 218 CLR 592 Campbell v Backoffice Investments Pty Ltd (2009) 238 CLR 304 Chakravarti v Advertiser Newspapers Ltd (1998) 193 CLR 519 Channel Seven Adelaide Pty Ltd v Manock (2007) 232 CLR 245 Channel Seven Sydney Pty Ltd v Mahommed (2010) 278 ALR 232 Civil Service Co-operative Society of Victoria Ltd v Blyth (1914) 17 CLR 601 Clayton v Le Roy [1911] 2 K B 1031 Codelfa Construction Pty Ltd v State Rail Authority of NSW (1982) 149 CLR 337 Computermate Products (Aust) Pty Ltd v Ozi-Soft Pty Ltd (1988) 20 FCR 46 Con-Stan Industries of Australia Pty Ltd v Norwich Winterthur Insurance (Australia) Ltd (1986) 160 CLR 226 Concrete Constructions (NSW) Pty Ltd v Nelson (1990) 169 CLR 594 Cross v Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd [2008] NSWCA 80 Cummings v Fairfax Digital Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd [2017] NSWSC 657 Cummings v Fairfax Digital Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd (2018) 99 NSWLR 173 David v Abdishou [2012] NSWCA 109 David Syme & Co v Canavan (1918) 25 CLR 234 Davis Contractors Ltd v Fareham Urban District Council [1956] AC 696 Derry v Peek (1889) 14 App Cas 337 DGM Commodities Corp v Sea Metropolitan SA (The “Andra”) [2012] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 587 Dow Jones & Co Inc v Gutnick (2002) 210 CLR 575 Dyno Nobel Inc v Orica Explosives Technology Pty Ltd (No 2) [2019] FCA 1552 E & J Gallo Winery v Lion Nathan Australia Pty Ltd [2008] FCA 934 EE McCurdy Ltd (in liq) v Postmaster-General [1959] NZLR 553 E W Savory Ltd v World of Golf Ltd [1914] 2 Ch 566 Electricity Generation Corporation v Woodside Energy Ltd (2014) 251 CLR 640 Flowfill Packaging Machines Pty Ltd v Fytore Pty Ltd (1993) Aust Torts Reports 81-244 Given v Pryor (1979) 24 ALR 442 Goodman v Boycott (1862) 2 B & S 1 Google Inc v ACCC (2013) 429 CLR 435 Greenfield Products Pty Ltd v Rover Scott Bonnar Ltd (1990) 95 ALR 275 Grundt v Great Boulder Proprietary Gold Mines Limited (1937) 59 CLR 641 Hall-Gibbs Mercantile Agency Ltd v Dun (1910) 12 CLR 84 Hockey v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (2015) 237 FCR 33 Houghland v RR Low (Luxury Coaches) Ltd [1962] 1 QB 694 Hunter BNZ Finance Ltd v CG Maloney Pty Ltd (1988) 18 NSWLR 420 John F Goulding Pty Ltd v Victorian Railways Commissioners (1932) 48 CLR 157 John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v Obeid (2005) 64 NSWLR 485 Lewis v Daily Telegraph Ltd [1964] AC 234 Louis Vuitton Malletier SA v Knierum [2004] FCA 1584 Madden v Seafolly Pty Ltd (2014) 313 ALR 1 Mirror Newspapers Ltd v Harrison (1982) 149 CLR 293 Mirror Newspapers Ltd v World Hosts Pty Ltd (1979) 141 CLR 632 Nelson & Anor v Nelson [1923] St R Qd 37 Nine Films & Television Pty Ltd v Ninox Television Ltd [2005] FCA 1404 O’Brien v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (2017) 97 NSWLR 1 Oliver v Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd [2019] FCA 583 oOh! Media Roadside Pty Ltd (formerly Power Panels Pty Ltd) v Diamond Wheels Pty Ltd (2011) 32 VR 255 Parkdale Custom Built Furniture Pty Ltd v Puxu Pty Ltd (1982) 149 CLR 191 Plimer v Roberts (1997) 80 FCR 303 Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd v Chesterton (2009) 238 CLR 460 Reader’s Digest Services Pty Ltd v Lamb (1982) 150 CLR 500 Ross McConnel Kitchen & Co Pty...