Milorad "Michael" Trkulja has won his High Court battle to begin the process of suing Google, after he argued the search engine giant wrongly linked his image to the Melbourne criminal underworld.
The High Court ruling gives the Melbournian the opportunity to head back to the Victorian court system to sue Google for defamation, after images relating to a 2004 incident where he was shot in a restaurant were used in what Trkulja claimed to be in an incorrect manner.
Trkulja in December 2012 sent a letter to both Google Australia and its parent company asking for his images to be removed, the court order [PDF] [1] states, and for the search engine to block results to his name.
Google Australia responded a few days later, stating "search products" to which Trkulja's "inquiry" related were owned by Google and that Google Australia was "unable to further assist" him with his inquiry.
Trkulja successfully argued in the Victorian Supreme Court in 2012 that Google defamed him by publishing the photos; however, four years later the Victorian Court of Appeal overturned the decision, finding the case had no prospect of successfully proving defamation.
The High Court disputed the Court of Appeal's ruling in a judgment on Wednesday and ordered Google pay Trkulja's legal costs.
"I will sue Google ... and I will sue them 'til they stop. I want them to block my pictures," Trkulja told AAP, noting he would continue the legal action until he gets the result he wants. "I'm not a criminal, I've never been involved, and I will make sure these people are not going to ruin my family -- I have grandchildren."
Google's lawyers argued it would be