AUSTRALIAN LIBEL LAWS MEANS TOM CRUISE UNAUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY CAN’T BE PUBLISHED
January 16th 2008 08:15
A partner of the Australian legal firm Minter Ellison legal firm has pointed out that that non-lease of the book, Tom Cruise: An Unauthorised Biography, in Australia, highlights the “significant differences in US libel law compared to Australia.”
Writing for Crikey.com, partner Peter Bartlett said the book is being released in the US this week, but the publisher, St Martins Press, is not being published in Australia.
Newspapers have reported that Australian bookshops have also bowed to pressure from the Church of Scientology and Tom Cruise not to publish the book. Dymocks and Angus & Robertson have confirmed that they will not stock the book due to the legal risks.
“In contrast, in Australia the onus is on the publisher to prove that the material published is true or that another defence is available to it. This is a far greater hurdle to jump than that faced by the plaintiff in the US. A publisher could not hope to know as much about the plaintiff as the plaintiff himself.
“US law places more emphasis on the public's right to know.”
Bartlett also said the book is unlikely to be available to Australian readers online: “If anyone in Australia read it online, it would be technically published in Australia for defamation purposes and the US publishers and author could be sued here.”
| 53 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Damo
There are limits to the reach of Scientology.