In most cases, you must commence legal action within one year from the date the defamatory material was published. There are some limited circumstances where this period may be extended. That gives you a fairly short amount of time to prepare and determine if you have in fact got a case. In the world of law, it requires fairly swift action. An easy rule to go by is if you think you have a claim, it’s important to get legal advice as soon as possible. That way you’ll know where you stand and if you need to move quickly to pursue your case and any potential compensation.