Liability of a printing company for personality rights violations caused by the newspaper it prints

Facts

The dispute opposes the plaintiff, who demands moral damages and protection of their personality, to the defendant, a printing company that printed defamatory articles. The defendant contests the territorial jurisdiction of the court and claims that the actions are time-barred. The facts took place between 1990 and 1993, during which a series of articles were published, the content of which was considered to be an attack on the plaintiff's personality.

The parties were represented before the court, which rendered a decision that is the subject of the appeal. The defendant was ordered to cease the publication of untrue facts concerning the plaintiff and to pay compensation for moral damages.

Considerations

The Federal Court examined the grounds for appeal, including territorial jurisdiction, the statute of limitations, and the liability of the printing company. It considered that the territorial jurisdiction of the court seized was based on Article 28b paragraph 2 CC, which allows the plaintiff to bring an action before the court of their domicile to obtain moral damages.

Regarding the statute of limitations, the Court ruled that the one-year limitation period under Article 60 paragraph 1 CO only begins to run from the moment when the end of the personality-attacking publications is recognizable. In light of the facts of the case, the Court estimated that on 18 March 1992, the date on which the plaintiff introduced their claim, they had not yet knowledge of the complete damage, so that the action for damages was not time-barred for the articles published before 18 March 1991.

The Court also examined the liability of the printing company, considering that the actions provided for in Article 28a paragraphs 1 and 2 CC allow the persons who participated in…