Category Archives: Libel

June 2, 2016

Responding to Online Brand Attacks

Guest post by John Simpson (Shift Law) Online threats to commercial reputations are on the rise. These include “attack sites”, “gripe sites” (e.g., RipOff Report), cyber-libel via social media, domain name high-jacking, meta tag high-jacking and defamatory email campaigns. Online brand and reputation attacks are … Read the rest of this entry »

November 8, 2012

Defamation: Careful what you Tweet – social media defamation – RCMP officer sues over sex tweets (with 10 tips to avoid defaming someone)

Guest post by Christine Duhaime (Duhaime Law) Defamation by Tweet? In one of BC’s first ever Twitter defamation actions, RCMP officer James Brown, has filed a civil claim against a Vancouver lawyer and three other defendants over, among other things, sexual, or sexually-related content disseminated … Read the rest of this entry »

March 10, 2012

Litigation Update: Defamation: BC Court of Appeal decides Lawson v. Baines

On Friday March 9, 2012 the British Columbia Court of Appeal, in an unanimous judgment by Justices Hinkson, Finch and Hall, decided an interesting defamation case involving the publication of a newspaper column in the Vancouver Sun entitled “Ambitious claims to a trillion-dollar jackpot” written … Read the rest of this entry »

March 5, 2012

Defamation Update: Tjelta v. Wang – A Cautionary Tale and Highlights the Importance of Ensuring Accurate E-mail and Online Communications

On March 1, 2012, the BC Supreme Court released its decision in Tjelta v. Wang (2012 BCSC 299) (see: Tjelta v. Wang 2012 BCSC 299), in which the plaintiff was awarded damages of $20,000 for defamatory statements made in e-mails and other communications. This recent … Read the rest of this entry »

February 26, 2012

Worthy Quotes: Ontario Court of Appeal on Defamation by Enforcement Officials

“A report that someone is under investigation or that they have been arrested for, or charged with, a criminal offence is not considered the ‘equivalent of saying that the person has committed the crime unless there is something in the language of the report that … Read the rest of this entry »

February 24, 2012

Defamation Update: Ontario Court of Appeal Confirms that Announcements by Enforcement Agencies May be Defamatory

In an interesting recent decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Court held that statements made by an enforcement agency, in this case the Competition Bureau, in relation to a criminal investigation, can be defamatory (see: TPG Technology Consulting Ltd. v. Canada (Industry Canada) … Read the rest of this entry »

February 18, 2012

Defamation Update: Can I sue for defamation if I was not expressly mentioned by name?

– By Joel Hill Wilson v. Switlo is a recent decision of the B.C. Supreme Court addressing a great many aspects of the law relating to “defamation”.  This post is the fifth in a series reviewing the claims, defenses, and issues raised in this important and wide-ranging … Read the rest of this entry »

December 21, 2011

Defamation Update: What is Defamation and How Do You Prove It?

“This is a defamation action.  It is a sad tale of a community divided.  It is about reputation in that community.  It is about politics.  It contains elements that are both unique and remarkable.” So begins Mr. Justice R. Punnett’s reasons for judgment in Wilson v. Switlo, 2011 … Read the rest of this entry »