-18the defendant's property, he must establish more than mere knowledge on the part of the defendant of the existence of that statement and the opportunity to remove it. According to the authorities, the plaintiff must establish that the defendant consented to, or approved of, or adopted, or promoted, or in some way ratified, the continued presence of that statement on his property so that persons other than the plaintiff may continue to read it - in other words, the plaintiff must establish in one way or another an acceptance by the defendant of a responsibility for the continued publication of that statement.”42 43. Hunt J therefore explained the Byrne v Deane rule as one which resulted in the occupier of the premises being treated as a publisher of the libel only if the facts, including a failure to remove the offending statements within a reasonable time of becoming aware of their existence, justified the inference that the occupier had consented to or adopted the defamatory statement. His Honour therefore held that the pleaded case, if duly proved, was: “... capable of amounting to the publication by the second defendant of those posters provided that the jury also draws the inference from such conduct that the second defendant had in fact accepted a responsibility for the continued publication of those posters.”43 44. The Byrne v Deane line of cases may therefore be viewed as authority for the following propositions: (a) Where a third person writes or affixes a statement defamatory of the plaintiff on the occupier’s property without the occupier’s knowledge, the occupier is not treated as a publisher of that statement prior to his becoming aware of it. (b) Once the occupier discovers its existence, he may be treated as a publisher but only if, having the power to do so, he does not remove or obliterate the offending statement in circumstances which justify inferring as a matter of fact that by his inaction he has consented to or ratified its continued publication. 42 At 69,193. 43 At 69,195.