ORIENTAL PRESS GROUP LTD AND OTHERS v. GOOGLE INC.

ORIENTAL PRESS GROUP LTD AND OTHERS v. GOOGLE INC.

On the available material the plaintiffs demonstrated a good arguable case of actionable defamation and it is reasonable to infer significant publication in Hong Kong; the defendant's failure to disclose publication metrics supports ordering disclosure of the extent and nature of publication and the proceedings...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
ORIENTAL PRESS GROUP LTD AND OTHERS v. GOOGLE INC.
Parties
1st Plaintiff: Oriental Press Group Limited; 2nd Plaintiff: Oriental Daily Publisher Limited; 3rd Plaintiff: The Sun News Publisher Limited; Defendant: Google Inc.
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
20 October 2016
Case Number
HCA2474/2015
Procedural Posture
Defamation / Interlocutory Disclosure Application (chambers Hearing)
Outcome
Application for disclosure allowed; action to proceed
Legal Topics
Publication, Jurisdiction, Disclosure, Abuse of Process, Service Out of Jurisdiction
Source Language
en
Defamation Private International Law Civil Procedure Internet Law Publication Jurisdiction Disclosure Abuse of Process +1 more

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Parties

Oriental Press Group Limited

1st Plaintiff

Oriental Daily Publisher Limited

2nd Plaintiff

The Sun News Publisher Limited

3rd Plaintiff

Google Inc.

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Defamation / Interlocutory Disclosure Application (chambers Hearing)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether there was sufficient publication in Hong Kong to found jurisdiction
  2. 2 Whether plaintiffs have a good arguable case of defamation
  3. 3 Whether the defendant must disclose the extent and nature of publication (number of hits)

Ratio Decidendi

On the available material the plaintiffs demonstrated a good arguable case of actionable defamation and it is reasonable to infer significant publication in Hong Kong; the defendant's failure to disclose publication metrics supports ordering disclosure of the extent and nature of publication and the proceedings should be allowed to continue rather than being struck out as an abuse of process.

Court Disposition

Application for disclosure allowed; action to proceed

Orders

  • Order that the defendant disclose the nature and extent of publication in Hong Kong including relevant metrics (eg number of hits and geographic data) as requested by the plaintiffs
  • Proceedings to continue in Hong Kong; leave to serve out of the jurisdiction remains effective