Lachlan Murdoch Wins Court Ruling to Expand Defamation Case Against Crikey

Lachlan Murdoch, Fox Corporation CEO, has been granted leave to expand his defamation case against Crikey, the independent news site that published an article naming the Murdoch family as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the US Capitol attack. The article, which was initially taken down after a concerns notice from Murdoch, was reinstated on August 15. Murdoch's lawyers argued that Crikey and Private Media, the parent company of Crikey, contrived a scheme to improperly use Murdoch's complaint to generate subscriptions and income. The court ruled in Murdoch's favor, allowing him to amend his statement of claim and sue Crikey and Private Media over both the original article and the reposted article.

Key Takeaways:

• The federal court agreed to add Private Media chairman Eric Beecher, and its chief executive, Will Hayward, as respondents in Lachlan Murdoch's defamation case against Crikey.
• The original article was published in June 2022 and named the Murdoch family as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the US Capitol attack.
• Crikey initially took the article down but reinstated it on August 15, 2022, after a change.org petition was launched to support the news site.
• Murdoch's lawyers argued that Crikey and Private Media contrived a scheme to improperly use Murdoch's complaint to generate subscriptions and income.
• The court ruled in Murdoch's favor, allowing him to amend his statement of claim and sue Crikey and Private Media over both the original article and the reposted article.
• The trial is expected to be delayed from March to October and lengthened from nine days to three weeks.
• Private Media had raised a "windfall" of $500,000 for 5,000 new subscriptions in the month of August after publishing the legal letters from Murdoch.
• Crikey's defense claimed that the article did not suggest the Murdochs were guilty of criminal conspiracy.

Statistics:

• The trial is expected to be delayed from March to October.
• The trial is expected to be lengthened from nine days to three weeks.
• Private Media raised $500,000 for 5,000 new subscriptions in the month of August.
• The original article was published in June 2022.
• The article was reinstated on August 15, 2022.

Sources:

• "Lachlan Murdoch has defamation case against Crikey expanded to include newspaper owners", The Guardian, [Michael Safi], 14 February 2023
• "Crikey faces fresh defamation lawsuit after being told article was defamatory", The Guardian, [Michael Safi], 28 June 2022
• "Crikey reinstates article about Lachlan Murdoch's defamation case", The Guardian, [Michael Safi], 15 August 2022