A decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) means that publishers' indefinite liability for defamatory information in their digital archives does not constitute a restriction on their rights to free speech. The Court maintained that a new defamation action can be brought every time online defamatory material is accessed. FE and HE institutions should note that the ruling means that a publication incidence occurs every time archive material is accessed and that there is no limitation on the number of defamation actions that can be brought as a result. For the full story please refer to:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/12/publisher_liability/.
(13/03/09)