2009 February 23

Banro Corp. v. Éditions Écosociété Inc., [2009] O.J. No. 733, appeal dismissed: 2010 ONCA 416

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a defence motion to stay a defamation action concerning a book entitled Noir Canada. The court concluded that the corporate defendant publisher was carrying on business in Ontario by disseminating copies of the book for sale by bookstores in Ontario and by making the book available for sale in Ontario via the Internet. The court held that publication occurs where the allegedly defamatory matter is downloaded from the Internet or where a book is read. “It was and should have been reasonably foreseeable to the defendants that, in writing, researching, editing and publishing Noir Canada, dissemination and marketing of Noir Canada in Ontario and via the internet would or could cause harm to the plaintiff in Ontario. As a result, I am of the view that the above activities have rendered the defendants subject to the jurisdiction of this forum.”