Singleton family agree to judgment in favour of Nine in landmark court battle
Had the NSW Supreme Court case proceeded to a hearing, the decision would have had implications for all Australian media outlets. The litigation was expected to involve a fight over the scope of a fair dealing exception in copyright laws, which allows images and video to be used for 'the reporting of news'.
Singleton's fiance, NSW police officer Ashley Wildey, and her mother, Julie Singleton, filed the lawsuit in April before Nine's 60 Minutes aired an interview with her father, former adman John Singleton.
Their claim was later expanded to include the publishing companies behind Nine-owned newspapers including the Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review.
Shortly before the trial, which was expected to run for two days from Tuesday, the parties agreed to orders entering judgment in favour of the Nine entities. The Supreme Court made the orders on Monday afternoon. The parties will bear their own legal costs.
Loading
The copyright claim centred on Nine's use of two videos and five photos from Dawn Singleton's public social media accounts.
Wildey and Julie Singleton had asked the court to make a declaration that the Nine outlets had infringed their copyright in the videos and photos, an order permanently restraining them from using the films and images, and damages.
In a written defence filed in court, the Nine entities admitted that 'there exists a practice within the Australian media of sourcing photos … and videos … from publicly available social media pages and using those photos and videos for the purpose of, or associated with, the reporting of news'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Qantas hack includes Chairman's Lounge membership data
The new detail about the data breach was contained in the broader release of information on the scale of last week's hack of Qantas customer data. About 4 million of the 5.7 million records were limited to name, email address and Qantas frequent flyer details only, the airline said, but a smaller, unspecified, subset had 'points balance and status credits included'. Within the 4 million figure, 1.2 million customer records contained only their name and email address. The data exposed from around 1.7 million Qantas travellers contained a combination of their address (1.3 million), date of birth (1.1 million), phone number (900,000) and gender (400,000), and some – about 10,000 – even had their meal preferences hacked. A week after the incursion into its database, Qantas said the airline could 'reconfirm' that no credit card details, personal financial information or passport details were stored in the system affected 'and therefore have not been accessed'. 'There continues to be no impact to Qantas frequent flyer accounts. Passwords, PINs and login details were not accessed or compromised. The data that was compromised is not enough to gain access to these frequent flyer accounts,' Qantas said in a statement. Last week, after detecting unauthorised activity on a 'third-party platform' used by the airline's contact centre in Manila, the airline called in cyber investigators and began notifying members. On Monday, Qantas said that 'a potential cybercriminal has made contact' with the airline. Hacked data is often used for further digital fraud. Rob Dooley, vice president of cybersecurity company Rapid7, notes that stolen information on its own is 'relatively innocuous'. 'It's when you correlate it with other data such as passwords matching those credentials from other breaches that it becomes valuable. 'It was connecting email addresses used as usernames and hoping those users didn't have two-factor authentication and had not changed their passwords,' said Dooley. This tactic was used in recent attacks on Australian superannuation funds, such as Australian Retirement Trust, AustralianSuper, HostPlus and Insignia Financial. Qantas claims 17 million frequent flyer members globally. The Qantas data breach also follows cyberattacks on Optus and Medibank Private in 2022. The criminals who breached Medibank Private began posting customer data online to coerce the health insurer into paying a ransom. Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said the airline had purged data in the aftermath of the damaging hacks of Optus and Medibank in 2022. 'The data we were deleting was more personal identity data that has been historically held in our system, such as passport details and also other relevant identity data. 'That has been an action that we took as a result of the Optus and the Medibank cyberattack,' Hudson said, without detailing the volume of data. Hudson said it was too early to discuss compensation for affected Qantas travellers, as the company was focusing on updating them about the breach. 'By far the majority of customers have said 'the next piece of information that I want from Qantas is the specific details of my data that was breached', which is what we're doing today,' she said. Loading As Hudson spoke, Qantas sent personalised emails to customers detailing what data was breached. 'Our cybersecurity teams have undertaken an investigation and we can confirm that the following types of your data held on the compromised system was accessed,' one email read, outlining that the customer's name, email address and tier of frequent flyer status had been breached. Hudson would not reveal anything about the cybercriminals behind the hack, saying it would be unhelpful to speculate. She referred questions to the Australian Federal Police. The AFP confirmed it was investigating the incident following a request from Qantas. 'Investigators are working closely with the airline and further comment will be provided at an appropriate time,' a spokesperson said. It is understood that the Australian Signals Directorate is also assisting in the response. Qantas urged customers to 'remain alert, especially with email, text messages or telephone calls, particularly where the sender or caller purports to be from Qantas'.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
‘Pretty stupid': Man in court over Albo threats
A Melbourne man charged with threatening Anthony Albanese says his comments were 'stupid'. Dale Byrne, 42, faces two Commonwealth charges related to threatening to cause 'serious harm' to the Prime Minister and making a 'menacing' social media post about the political leader. Mr Byrne didn't enters any pleas during a brief hearing in the Dandenong Magistrates' Court on Thursday, and the matter was listed for a contest mention hearing in September. Outside court, Mr Byrne told NewsWire: 'I haven't got much to say because I haven't got my solicitor here, except I said something pretty stupid I shouldn't have said.' He would not comment when asked if he would plead guilty. The most serious charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. One of the charges allegedly involves the use of social media platform X. NewsWire / Aaron Francis Credit: News Corp Australia In Thursday's court hearing, magistrate Nunzio La Rosa continued Mr Byrne's bail, which includes the condition not to go within 100m of state or federal politicians, including Mr Albanese. Mr La Rosa scheduled the matter to be called again at a contest mention on September 4. Documents released to the media, at a prior court hearing, show Mr Byrne is charged with threatening 'to cause serious harm to a Commonwealth Official, namely Australian Prime Minister, the Honourable Anthony Albanese' on February 7. The second charge alleges Mr Byrne used a carriage service 'in a manner that a reasonable person would regard as menacing' when he made an X post 'towards' Mr Albanese. It was previously reported that the charges weren't finalised and were under negotiation. Initially, the Australian Federal Police alleged Mr Byrne made death threats and anti-Semitic comments to a Commonwealth member of parliament. 'The AFP will allege the man used social media to contact a Commonwealth MP multiple times between 7 January, 2025, and 19 February, 2025, making death threats and anti-Semitic comments,' it said at the time he was charged on March 18. The state of the charges or details of the allegations were not aired in court on Thursday.
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Bombshell report into CFMEU Queensland branch uncovers shock allegations of violence, exposes union's grip on former Labor government
Serious allegations of bullying, violence and intimidation have been levelled against the scandal-plagued Queensland branch of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) as part of an investigation carried out by a top anti-corruption lawyer. Barrister Geoffrey Watson SC was commissioned by Administrator Mark Irving KC to investigate claims the CFMEU's state branch had been infiltrated by criminal networks, after it was placed into administration last year. The review cited claims by a public servant that the CFMEU in Queensland believed it had the power to draft new laws after Labor returned to power in the state in 2015. Mr Watson's three-month investigation was summarised in a 45-page report obtained by The Courier Mail. He conducted 55 interviews with officials and members of the CFMEU, politicians, bystanders and victims of abuse, trade unionists and others. 'When Labor recovered government in Queensland in February 2015 the CFMEU seems to have regarded itself as having taken over administering industrial relations,' he wrote in the report. Mr Watson said he was told in confidence by Labor ministers that the CFMEU was the most aggressive trade union. 'Australian politics, especially at a state level, is notoriously robust; strong criticism is common,' Mr Watson said. 'Even by those standards the CFMEU went too far.' He suggested ex-CFMEU state secretary Michael Ravbar was to blame for the union becoming more violent. 'That does not entitle him or anyone to engage in persistent, threatening abuse,' he wrote. 'If the CFMEU was sliding into violence, the slide was starting from the top.' The report quoted claims from a public servant that a CFMEU official hectored them with phrases such as "you're now working for us" when they visited the union's offices at Bowen Hills in 2015. 'The theme was consistent – I am your boss now, " a union representative told the consultative team at the meeting according to the report. Mr Watson said he feared the investigation had "only scratched the surface". He said the union breached its anti-violence policy to achieve the outcomes that fit its agenda. "The CFMEU in Queensland actually intended to inflict physical, sexual, emotional, and economic abuse on others," the report said. "The CFMEU used threats and coercion deliberately to cause fear. "This included, if necessary, destroying individuals and businesses. The CFMEU is ruthless — it will crush anyone offering any resistance to it." Allegations of abuse were also noted, including on one occasion where three men are said to have approached a Workplace Health and Safety inspector at a funeral and called him a "c***" and a "f***ing dog". In another instance, the 21-year-old daughter of an inspector was allegedly told her father was a "f***ing c***" by a man who approached her while she was at a gym. The report highlighted disturbing examples of abuse towards women, with Mr Watson describing it as what "might just be the single worst aspect of the violence perpetrated by the CFMEU".
