Where a plaintiff sues a newspaper publisher and pleads that the publisher 'caused to be published' radio broadcasts referring to the article, this constitutes a republication as damages claim (not a claim against the publisher as original publisher of the broadcasts), and the question whether the broadcasts convey the pleaded imputations is a matter for the judge under s 7A(4)(b), not the jury under s 7A(3). A plaintiff who fails at the s 7A(3) stage against the original publisher is not precluded by Anshun estoppel or abuse of process from commencing separate proceedings against the broadcasters as original publishers of the broadcasts, as the question of whether the broadcasts conveyed the imputations was never determined. Section 48 of the Defamation Act 1974 (NSW) expressly contemplates multiple proceedings against different defendants.
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