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images on social media, social media, Facebook, Meta, Instagram, copyright, Copyright Act, terms of service, intellectual property, content, ownership, photo, photography, photographer
14 Mar 2024

Who owns images on social media?

Who owns all of the images on social media? All those holiday snaps, happy family memories and eyewitness videos of crazy happenings and crimes that are uploaded daily… Do we still own the images we post on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and Snapchat? Terms of service and images on social […]
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dangerous driver, driver, passenger, seat belt, vehicle, motor vehicle, accelerate, lose control, ute, accident, death, injury, conviction, sentenced, parole, appeal, leniency
11 Mar 2024

Would the Court of Appeal increase a dangerous driver’s jail term? Which case won?

A case heard in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal in 2016 concerned a dangerous driver.

On an evening in 2015, a 19-year-old man was driving the streets of a small country town in a single cab utility motor vehicle, with two passengers in the cabin not wearing seatbelts and a third passenger seated on a toolbox in the back tray.

The driver did not own the vehicle, but had driven it several times and was familiar with it and with the road he was driving along. The driver was the designated driver and had not been drinking that evening.

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industrial manslaughter, negligent, negligence, boss, employer, liable, penalty, death, scaffolding, workplace, construction, safety, worker, employee
08 Mar 2024

Negligent bosses in NSW to face 20 years in jail for industrial manslaughter

Employers found liable for industrial manslaughter could face up to 20 years in jail under tough new negligence laws to come into operation in NSW in 2024. New industrial manslaughter laws following worksite deaths NSW Industrial Relations Minister Sophie Cotsis has said she will bring in new industrial manslaughter laws which will significantly increase penalties […]
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doli incapax, presumption of innocence, crime, criminal, criminal responsibility, prosecution, offence, reasonable doubt, evidence, guilty, detention, Indigenous
05 Mar 2024

Doli incapax and what it means for kids

Doli incapax is Latin for “incapable of evil” and stems from the legal notion that humans can be too young to understand what they are doing is wrong when they commit a crime. Children under ten cannot be found guilty of an offence In Australia children ten years old and younger cannot be found guilty […]
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coal mines, coal, gas, climate change, environment, ECoCeQ, Plibersek, Narrabri, Hunter Valley, emissions, mines, anthropogenic, net zero, threatened species, fossil fuel, fossil fuel projects
29 Feb 2024

Court says coal mines can be approved without considering climate change

In a significant legal blow to environmentalists, in 2023 the Federal Court ruled that the federal environment minister does not have to consider climate change when approving coal mines. Environmental group claims minister did not consider climate change The Environment Council of Central Queensland (ECoCeQ) mounted a legal challenge to minister Tanya Plibersek’s assessment of […]
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art forgery, fake painting, forged painting, forged art, fake art, investor, auction house, auctioneer, seller, art, forgery, agent, damages, underpriced, artwork, Christie's, Tucker, Albert Tucker, authentic, authenticity, negligence, negligent, liability, misleading, deceptive conduct, omission
26 Feb 2024

Who is liable when art forgery is uncovered – the auction house, the seller, or the buyer’s agent? Which case won?

An art investor engaged an art expert to act as her agent. The agent’s role was to locate valuable but underpriced works of art and bid on the investor’s behalf at various auctions for the sale of artwork, including paintings and sculptures.

Around that time the seller engaged an auction house to advertise and subsequently sell a painting by a famous Australian artist at a public auction. In doing so the seller and the auction house entered into a contract.

By way of that contract, the seller of the painting made a number of promises to the auctioneer, including that the painting was painted by a specific famous artist, specifying the year it was painted, that the auction house was allowed to advertise the painting as having been painted by that artist and that no third party had expressed concerns about the authenticity of the painting.

Relying on the contract, the auctioneer published a catalogue, inspected by the buyer of the painting, which stated there was “no doubt” that the painting was authentic. None of the parties had any reason to suspect the painting was a forgery at the time of its sale.

The sale went ahead and the buyer purchased the artwork for the princely sum of $85,000.

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tax assessment, tax bill, Commissioner of Taxation, Australian Taxation Office, investment, property, company, indemnity, trust, family trust, alienation of property, corporate trustee, land transfer, preferred creditor, unpaid tax, restructure, declaration, fraud, defraud, creditor
12 Feb 2024

Tax office claims fraud after company transfers land following large tax assessment – which case won?

Following a tax assessment, the corporate trustee of a family trust was found to owe $7 million to the Australian Taxation Office.

The company held nine properties for the trust. After receiving the tax bill, the company implemented a complicated restructure to transfer ownership of those properties.

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business disruption, damages, road works, construction, delay, inconvenience, compensated, class action, lawsuit, trackwork, avoidable, unreasonable, light rail, unreasonable interference, private nuisance
01 Feb 2024

Success in class action for business disruption due to Sydney light rail roadworks

A recent Supreme Court judgment may open the way for businesses to claim damages from the government if they lose income due to business disruption as a result of major road works. Construction of light rail causes significant business disruption Two Sydney small business owners took Transport for NSW to court after they lost income […]
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employment restraint, restraint of trade, employer, employee, employment contract, contract, employment restraint clause, competition, confidential information, non-competition clause, canvassing, soliciting, inducing, customers, bad faith, misrepresentation, misleading, deceptive
30 Jan 2024

Could an employment restraint stop a former employee from setting up a competing business? Which case won?

A case heard in the Supreme Court of NSW in 2017 concerned an employment restraint in a worker’s employment contract.

The company in question manufactured and sold school uniforms in NSW. The employee had worked in that industry for many years before she joined the company in July 2015.

Her employment contract with the company included a “restraint of trade” clause, preventing her, in the event she left her employment at the company, from starting up her own business in competition with the company for a period of either three or six months.

The employment contract also contained a clause requiring her to refrain from misusing or disclosing confidential information of the company, either before or after termination of her employment.

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water use, water access, water management, water law, Water Act, Water Management Act, Dam Safety Act, Water NSW Regulation, groundwater, pump, bore, dam, weir, irrigation channel, levee, dewatering, Water Access Licence, domestic use, stock watering, river, lake, estuary
24 Jan 2024

“Is it legal for me to pump water from the river?” – laws governing water use in NSW

Water security challenges loom as groundwater and river systems under threat Australia is a dry continent, and it is only getting drier. The country’s largest river and groundwater systems are under threat. As competing interests assert their right to water access, it is important to understand the laws governing water use. Regional towns and industries […]
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Border Force, search, examine, warrant, electronic device, phone, laptop, SIM card, risk, border, breach, Customs Act
17 Jan 2024

Can Border Force search your mobile phone?

Concerns regarding Border Force’s search powers It has been reported that the Australian Border Force searched more than 40,000 mobile phones and other data storage devices of travellers entering the country in just five years. During 2021, border officials demanded passwords to examine 822 mobile phones belonging to people entering the country, sometimes copying data […]
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bank withdrawal, bank, customer, withdraw, withdrew, withdrawal, ATM, glitch, human error, staff error, savings account, Complete Freedom, relationship officer, electronic transfer, direct debit, cash withdrawal, cash, benefit, deception, overdrawn
15 Jan 2024

Was the man who made a bank withdrawal of $2 million he didn’t have guilty of a crime? Which case won?

A case heard in 2015 concerned a series of bank withdrawals made possible by a human error which caused a glitch in the bank’s systems.

In March 2010 a 22-year-old customer of St George Bank opened a new account at the bank’s Goulburn branch. The new account was marketed – all too aptly, as it turned out – as a “Complete Freedom” account and was essentially a savings account with no overdraft facility.

However, the staff member who opened the account wrongly marked it as having a “relationship officer” assigned to it. The role of the bank’s relationship officers was to approve or disallow withdrawals beyond the available credit limit of the accounts for which they were responsible.

The bank did not normally assign relationship officers to retail accounts such as the Complete Freedom account. The absence of a relationship officer meant that the customer was able to withdraw money which he did not have.

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Criminal Infringement Notice, CIN, drugs, drug offence, drug charge, conviction, evidence, forensic testing, criminal justice, diversion, personal use, discretion, cannabis, cocaine, MDMA, ice, illegal drugs
12 Jan 2024

Expanded Criminal Infringement Notice (CIN) for minor drug offences in NSW

Police will have new powers to issue on-the-spot fines for adults caught with a small quantity of illegal drugs under an expansion of the Criminal Infringement Notice being brought in by the NSW government. Changes to current Criminal Infringement Notice The changes starting in 2024 broaden the current Criminal Infringement Notice (CIN) which enables police […]
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gym injuries, gym injury, gym, liable, public liability, compensation, claim, negligence, negligent, personal trainer, risk, duty of care, waiver, safety
10 Jan 2024

Can you make a public liability claim for gym injuries?

Regular physical exercise is an important part of maintaining health and fitness. People exercise in various locations, such as their local park, running along coastal tracks, or training at home or at a commercial gym. But with exercise comes the risk of sports-related or gym injuries. Gyms often unstaffed and unsupervised As the Covid pandemic […]
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12 Dec 2023

“Our right of carriageway is on the plan, they’ve got no right to block it” – which case won?

A right of carriageway is a form of easement which gives someone the right to access their property through the property of another person.

It is a full and free right for a person in whose favour the easement is created, and everyone authorised by that person, to go, pass and repass through the property that the right of carriageway is on, at all times and for all purposes, with or without animals or vehicles.

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generative AI, artificial intelligence, AI, large language model, ChatGPT, Bing Chat, writing, intellectual property, copyright, Copyright Act, creative concept, human author, writer, fair dealing, OpenAI
08 Dec 2023

Can I claim copyright if I write a novel or research paper using generative AI?

Are there rules around claiming copyright if I write a novel or a research paper using generative AI? If I ask a large language model like ChatGPT or Bing Chat to put together a paragraph or two on some topic and include it in my writing, can I claim it as all my own work? […]
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contesting a will, challenge a will, contest a will, dispute, beneficiary, testator, deceased, will, family provision claim, distribution, assets, probate, executor, eligible person, Succession Act, NSW, claim, validity, undue influence, testamentary capacity, notional estate
06 Dec 2023

Contesting a will in NSW – the horror story edition

Successfully contesting a will can lead to a fairer distribution of assets from a deceased estate and provide protection for vulnerable family members. However, the experience can be fraught with turmoil and financial strain. Emotions can run high and relationships within the family can deteriorate. Contesting a will is a complex legal process that requires […]
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Sending an innocent emoji in a text message could land you in court, because the law could see it as a threat or an acceptance of a contract.
30 Nov 2023

How an emoji can land you in court

We often add an emoji to our emails and text messages to bring a bit of levity to otherwise dull communications, but beware – icons such as the thumbs up, smiley face or gun could land you in trouble with the law. Legal impact of using emojis An emoji is an image used in texting […]
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