Corby v Allen and Unwin Pty Limited (No 3)

The case involved Corby, a claimant, and Allen and Unwin Pty Limited, the defendant. The dispute centred on allegations of defamatory statements made by the defendant, which Corby claimed were published in a book titled "Blackfish". The case was heard in the Federal Court of Australia. The claimant sought to recover damages for defamation and also sought an order for costs.

The legal issues that the court had to address involved whether the imputations made in the book were defamatory and if so, whether they were justified as being true. The defendant argued that the imputations were not defamatory and that if they were, they were true and thus privileged. The court had to consider the meaning of the words in the book, the effect of those words on the claimant's reputation, and the justification of the defendant's actions.

The court found that the imputations made in the book were indeed defamatory. It held that the words used were capable of lowering the claimant in the estimation of right-thinking members of society. The court further held that the defendant had not justified the imputations as being true. The court found that the defendant had not established the truth of the imputations and that there was no evidence to support the claim that they were true. As such, the claimant was entitled to recover damages for defamation. The court also ordered the defendant to pay the claimant's costs.

The Federal Court of Australia ordered Allen and Unwin Pty Limited to pay Corby's costs in relation to the proceedings. The defendant was also ordered to pay damages to the claimant for the defamatory statements made in the book "Blackfish".