Michael Leidig's victory was awarded by the court in early 2009, but for legal reasons he has only been allowed to make it public this week.
The claims against Leidig, who is the owner of Central European News Ltd and vice chairman of the National Association of Press Agencies, concerned his book on Natascha Kampusch, the Austrian girl locked in a cellar for eight years until 2006.
According to a statement released by Leidig, just three days after his book, The Girl in the Cellar, was published, Rupert Leutgeb, PR advisor to the girl's family, issued a press release alleging that the book contained made-up interviews.
"The first I heard about this was when I saw it on the television in the evening and by the next day it had been published everywhere from the International Herald Tribune to Pravda (...) When I asked for a correction all the media that used the story refused, arguing that it was a personal matter between me and Mr Leutgeb and they did not want to get involved in our personal differences," says Leidig, who has covered Austrian affairs for the Telegraph, in a statement.
"Neither I or my publisher or my news agency ever had a single call to check the story - and nobody after the event that I contacted asked to listen to the tapes - even though they were offered. As they say - a lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got his boots on."
The court ordered Leutgeb to pay for organising retractions in all the publications that carried his claims and pay costs and damages to Leidig, said Leidig's statement.
"It is obvious that the defendant's allegations and reports seriously damaged the reputation of the plaintiff and constricted his work as a serious journalist. The large scale accusation of the plaintiff having invented interviews for his book has caused disdain and disapproval with those potentially interested in the book and business partners' of his agency. Indeed, the orders at his agency went down, interviews about his new book have been cancelled and sales figures seem negatively affected," says the court, in a translation of its ruling.
Free daily newsletter
If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).
Related articles
- How can universities prepare young journalists for the industry?
- Copyright still applies on social media: seek consent before helping yourself to content
- Developing a new agenda: international reporting by women of colour
- First-party cookies: 'Get legal help to avoid fines'
- James Slack: ‘Every journalist is appalled that the government is even considering doing something so draconian’
