Re: Transjurisdictional Issues

From: Dan L Burk <BURKDANL[_at_]shu.edu>
Date: Tue, 01 Jun 1999 10:18:12 -0400

On 05/31/99, Michael Lean <m.lean[_at_]qut.edu.au> wrote:
>
> The decision by Justice Caroline Simpson is expected to break legal
> ground on Internet defamation claims.
>
> However, Justice Simpson said the MBL action faced hurdles, including
> how Australian courts come to grips with US defamation law; whether
> Australian courts have jurisdiction over material placed on a Web
> site set up in another country; and the enforceability in another
> jurisdiction of any order an Australian court may make on the issue.
>

[snip]

These issues are relatively well-settled.

See, e.g., Matusevitch v. Telnikoff, 877 F.Supp. 1 (D.DC 1995) (foreign libel judgment unenforceable as repugnant to the public policy of the United States); Bachchan v. India Abroad, 585 N.Y.S.2d 661 (Sup. Ct. NY 1992) (same).

There are also a fair number of cases reaching the same result by holding that the foreign court improperly failed to choose U.S. libel law in its choice of law analysis.

However, note that the calculus of rights is entirely different for copyright than for libel.

---

Dan L. Burk
Seton Hall University
burkdanl[_at_]shu.edu

---

Received on Tue Jun 01 1999 - 14:22:12 GMT