Lucky Lyons is an independent local councilor who is running in the upcoming general election. It is common knowledge that Lucky has a conviction for dangerous driving dating back to the 1990s when she was a teenager. Lucky was driving a car that collided with a wall, killing her passenger, another teenage girl called Dolours Day. It is also a matter of public record that Lucky has criminal convictions for tax evasion in relation to her tanning business and that she has made a settlement with the Criminal Assets Bureau.
You are the presenter of a popular weekly podcast Talking Heads, which is recorded in front of a live audience. During your in-depth interview with Lucky, she repeatedly denies being soft on crime. You ask her “Why should the electorate consider a woman who has blood on her hands? Lucky starts to argue with you when an audience member jumps up and shouts “Lucky Lyons you’re a lying, murdering wagon”. He repeats this twice before the microphones are muted. After the show ends, you discover that the audience member is the father of Delours Day, the girl killed in Lucky’s car in the 1990s.
- Analyze whether Lucky Lyons has been defamed during the Talking Heads podcast During the following week, you seek to interview the father of Dolours Day, but Mr. Day repeatedly refuses to speak to you. An intern on your podcast makes an Instagram reel that goes viral. The reel features old photos and videos of Lucky and Delours, with the soundtrack of ‘Road to Nowhere’ by the band Talking Heads.
- Do Lucky Lyons and the father of Dolours Day have a right to privacy in this situation You receive a legal letter from the band Talking Heads which claims that there has a been a breach of their copyright in the use of their music on the reel and that the title of the podcast is an infringement of their trademark or passing off.
- Have Talking Heads’ intellectual property rights been breached in this situation?