On Tuesday, December 7, 2010, the
BCCLA will argue before the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of
Crookes v. Newton: that the owners of websites generally should not be held legally liable for
hyperlinking to defamatory sites on the internet. The BCCLA is an intervener
in the case.
The Crookes
case offers the Supreme Court its first opportunity to consider whether and
when hyperlinking to defamatory material – defamatory material hosted by
someone else, elsewhere on the internet – amounts to publication for the
purposes of a claim in defamation.
The
BCCLA will argue that in order to protect freedom of expression, a website
author should only be found liable for defamation if he or she knowingly
adopts or endorses defamatory material on the hyperlinked site.
The BCCLA
will argue that if the courts treat hyperlinking as publication for the
purposes of defamation, it will have a chilling effect on expressive activity
and discourage the interlinking that gives the internet its vitality.
The
BCCLA is represented by Roy W. Millen, Paul B. Schabas and Jon Goheen of
Blakes, Cassels & Graydon LLP. The argument they filed in the case is available here
>>
What: Supreme Court of Canada will
hear oral arguments in Crookes
v. Newton.
When: Oral arguments before the Supreme
Court of Canada begin on December 7, 2010 at 9 a.m. EST.
Where: Supreme Court of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
Who: Counsel for the BCCLA, Roy W. Millen, and
Grace Pastine, BCCLA Litigation Director, will be available for comment at
the numbers listed below.
December
6, 2010
For immediate release
