21 Nov Whistleblowing: is it worth the risk under Australian law?
Whistleblowing is … a process whereby an organisational insider with knowledge of wrongdoing takes steps to disclose that information to a party capable of intervention ...
Publications
05 Sep Developers Beware – Implied Warranties under the Home Building Act
Under section 18B of the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) (Act) warranties (as to fitness for purpose and the like) are implied into residential building contracts. These warranties can be relied upon to make a claim against a builder and the developer who retained the...
05 Sep Enforcing a Covenant in Restraint of Trade
In Austal Ships Pty Ltd v Clay [2018] WASC 178, the Supreme Court of Western Australia granted an interim injunction to restrain a former employee of Austal, Mr Clay, from commencing employment with a competitor. Mr Clay had commenced employment at Austal in August 2014 as an...
10 Aug Combating corporate crime – the Whistleblower Protection Bill
Whistleblowers play an important role in exposing illegal conduct and unethical practice in private organisations but are subject to potential reprisals as a result. The Federal Government has recently released an exposure draft of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Whistleblowers) Bill 2017. The purpose of this...
30 Jul Strata units and short term rentals – the AirBnB Bill
In response to the criticisms of the restrictions imposed by the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, (‘The Act’) the NSW Government has introduced the Fair Trading Amendment (Short-term Rental Accommodation) Bill 2018 (‘the Bill’). Its purpose is to amend the Act to allow the by-laws...
12 Oct Old Dog New Tricks – misleading or deceptive conduct on the internet
Posted at 11:47h
in Competition and Consumer Act 2010 - Schedule 2 ('Australian Consumer Law') 0 Comments
Passing Off and Misleading or Deceptive Conduct On Line – Old dog, new tricks. (Presented to Law Society CLE Seminar on 8 March 2016) Introduction. Misleading and deceptive conduct in the course of trade is as old as commerce itself. But new technologies open up new opportunities...
11 Oct Dallas Buyers’ Club Case
Rights Owners Strike Back? Preliminary Discovery post Dallas Buyers Club Published by Lexis Nexis Internet Law Bulletin 18/2015 and Australian Intellectual Property Law Bulletin 28/2015 By Grant Hansen In 2012 the ISP iiNet achieved a notable victory in the High Court in Roadshow Films Pty Ltd v iiNet Ltd (2012)...
11 Oct Protecting Software in a Digital Age
(Published in Law Society Journal of NSW September 2014. Revised version published in Australian Commercial Law Tracker October 2014) Grant Hansen In the seminal case on damages for software infringement, Autodesk v Cheung (1990) 171 IPR 69Justice Wilcox observed that: one matter which is, in my opinion, relevant, is the difficulty...
11 Oct Downloading Personal Liability
Directors and Managers liability for copyright infringement over the internet. (Published in Internet Law Bulletin vol.18 No. 2, 2015) Grant Hansen A person who has under his control the means by which an infringement of copyright may be committed – such as a photocopying machine – and who...
11 Oct Copyright and Fair Use in the Digital Age
(Published in Keeping Good Companies August 2013) Grant Hansen The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) recently published a discussion paper1, which recommends the introduction of a US style fair use defence to the existing law of copyright. That defence would replace the existing highly specific fair dealing...