Harris v 718932 Pty Ltd

The appeal concerned a defamation action brought by the plaintiff, Harris, against the defendant, 718932 Pty Ltd. The core of the dispute revolved around whether a prior judgment obtained by the plaintiff against a different party for the publication of the same defamatory material barred a subsequent action against the defendant for a distinct republication of that material. The matter was heard in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the plaintiff's claim was barred by the doctrine of *res judicata* due to the prior judgment, and whether the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1946 (NSW) s 5(1)(b) precluded a separate action for the distinct republication. The court was required to consider the nature of distinct republications of defamatory material and their relationship to successive tortfeasors.

The Court of Appeal held that a judgment obtained against one publisher of a defamatory statement does not, by reason of *res judicata*, bar a subsequent action against a different publisher for a distinct republication of the same defamatory statement. The court reasoned that each distinct publication constitutes a separate tort, causing separate damage, and therefore the prior judgment did not extinguish the plaintiff's cause of action against the defendant for the latter's independent act of publication. The court further found that the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1946 s 5(1)(b) did not apply to bar the action, as the defendant was not a joint or concurrent tortfeasor with the party against whom the prior judgment was obtained.

The appeal was allowed, and orders were made accordingly.