The family of Bondi Junction stabbing victim Dawn Singleton is taking legal action against the Nine Network and The Sydney Morning Herald, claiming the media outlets infringed their copyright by publishing photographs of her.
The litigation, which has implications for all media outlets, is expected to involve a dispute over the scope of a fair dealing exception in copyright laws, which allows images and video to be used for “the reporting of news”.
Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing victim Dawn Singleton.Credit: 60 Minutes
The NSW Supreme Court lawsuit was filed on Friday by Singleton’s fiance, NSW police officer Ashley Wildey, and her mother, Julie Singleton, before Nine’s 60 Minutes aired an interview on Sunday night with her father and former adman John Singleton.
Dawn Singleton, 25, was among six people killed by mentally ill man Joel Cauchi at Bondi Junction Westfield on April 13, 2024. Cauchi was shot dead by police. An inquest into the seven deaths starts in Sydney on April 28.
The lawsuit seeks damages for copyright infringement and an order “permanently restraining” Nine from using two specific photos, which have not been published in this report.
The plaintiffs are also seeking a broader order preventing Nine from using any photographs from Dawn Singleton’s social media accounts without the “express licence” of her fiance or mother.
During a preliminary hearing in Sydney on Wednesday, the barrister acting for the pair, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, said her clients wanted to expand the lawsuit to encompass “related entities of Nine Network” including the publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald.
Sue Chrysanthou SC leaves the Bondi Junction inquest on Monday.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
“On the front page of the … Herald on Monday another of Mr Wildey’s images was taken without his consent … and repeated on page 12,” she said.
“We also wish to add to the photographs that Nine Entertainment group has been using without our clients’ consent over the last year.”
Chrysanthou said this was “an extremely distressing situation for my clients”.
“The [one-year] anniversary of their fiancee and daughter’s death is on Sunday,” she said.
Chrysanthou said copyright claims were “pretty straightforward: someone owns the photo, someone uses it, and there’s either permission or there isn’t”.
Barrister Lyndelle Barnett, appearing for Nine, said it was “not as straightforward and simple”.
“My clients are very keen to be as respectful and sympathetic of the plaintiffs as we can be,” Barnett said. “But to the extent there’s going to be very broad brush claims over reporting of a very tragic event over the last year, we need to be able to fairly deal with that and respond to it.”
John Singleton is not a party to the copyright lawsuit. He told 60 Minutes he did not support the Bondi Junction inquest, but his public comments have exposed a schism in the family.
Dawn Singleton’s father, John Singleton, asked for the inquest to be cancelled and questioned whether it would provide any benefit.Credit: 60 Minutes
Dawn’s sister, Daisy Singleton, said in Instagram comments: “He had simply not seen her since she was 8 and has no business speaking about her on national TV while (her) family is grieving. Her family begged him not to do this interview.”
Mandatory inquest
Under the NSW Coroners Act, an inquest is required to be held when a person dies as a result of a homicide or a police operation.
Chrysanthou, appearing at the inquest for Dawn Singleton’s family, excluding John, as well as for the families of Ashlee Good and Jade Young, told a preliminary hearing of the inquest on Monday that her clients “understand the mandatory nature of this inquest, and they support it”.
Chrysanthou acted for convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby’s family in a Federal Court copyright infringement fight over a book containing photos taken by Corby’s sister Mercedes and others. The family won the copyright suit and the book was pulped.
Fair dealing exception
The Singleton lawsuit is expected to involve different legal arguments to the Corby case, including whether the use of the photos fell within the “fair dealing” exception for news reporting.
There are also questions about who owns the copyright. The person who takes a photo or video is generally the copyright owner. When a person dies, their copyright forms part of their estate.
Barnett said an urgent preliminary hearing in the copyright fight took place on Friday night and centred on “two photographs, some videos which we had already agreed not to publish, and a blanket claim for material on social media”. But “the scope of this proceeding is expanding”.
Barnett said she anticipated there would be a “good fair dealing” argument, as well as questions about “the circumstances in which those images made their way into the public domain, and whether there’s any argument of an implied licence”.
Justice Francois Kunc gave the plaintiffs leave to add new defendants to the lawsuit. An updated claim will be filed on Friday. The parties return to court on May 2.
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