Professional Reputation and the Google Review What if the Review is False or Defamatory?
This article aims to analyze the recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia in Musicki v Google LCC [2021] FCA 1393 in which the Court ordered that Google LCC give discovery to the Prospective Applicant of all documents that are or have been in the Google LLC’s possession. (defamatory) Who is who? According to the facts of the case, the Applicant (Dr. Korana Musicki) is a specialist vascular and endovascular surgeon with considerable international experience. Her referral basis in Australia is largely greater Melbourne and Victoria regions. She also treats patients from interstate and her market is Australia-wide. Further, the Applicant’s petition to Court deposes that an anonymous reviewer, described as “Dave Cross”, has posted a number of false and defamatory criticism of Dr. Musicki in Google Reviews. She contended in the Court document that David Cross was not a patient of hers. She complained in her Application that the name was a “made up pseudonym” and th...