Five-decade-old precedent remains just as relevant to determining the venue of a lawsuit alleging internet defamation as it was when print still ruled the media, the Pennsylvania Superior Court said.

In Fox v. Smith, the intermediate appellate court declined Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Arnold New’s invitation to reconsider the venue rules for defamation claims in light of the technological advances that have occurred since 1967. That’s the year the state Supreme Court ruled in Gaetano v. Sharon Herald that, for the purposes of determining where a defamation action should proceed, “publication” occurs in the county where the statement is read and understood to be defamatory.