Year: 2005

by Mike Dodd, Media Lawyer Lawyers acting for children and local authorities must heed the need to notify the press and media when applying for injunctions which will inhibit reporting of issues involving children and… Read More »

The Court of Appeal today gave judgment in the long running British Horse Racing Board v William Hill case. The case concerned database rights – a relatively new form of intellectual property that derives from… Read More »

The Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust has seen off a libel action brought by a former employee over a reference it provided to a new employer. The Claimant, who had been employed as a dietician for… Read More »

The High Court yesterday rejected an attempt by two 15-year-old school children to ban footage of them appearing in a Channel Four Dispatches programme looking at discipline problems in English schools.   Alex Dolan, a supply… Read More »

Prominent New York Times journalist Judith Miller was today sentenced to prison for refusing to reveal the identity of a confidential source of information for an article. The conviction related to a story naming CIA agent… Read More »

The PCC annual report, published today, claims that a record number of complaints have been resolved, despite a slight fall in the number made.  Chairman Sir Christopher Meyer further claims that the organisation is the preferred route to… Read More »

The Department of Constitution Affairs today released the results of the consultation process over televising courts in England and Wales. Announcing the results, The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, said that there were “powerful” reasons for keeping television cameras… Read More »

Companies manufacturing and distributing file-sharing software were today held liable for the copyright infringements carried out with the software by end users. The Supreme Court unanimously held that a person who distributes a device with… Read More »

At a procedural hearing, Paris’s civil court set a date next February for the full hearing of Sir Frederick and Sir David Barclays’ libel trial against The Times. The brothers, who own the Telegraph, are suing… Read More »

Mr Justice Laddie has announced he is resigning from his position as a High Court judge in order to join a specialist solicitors’ firm. Laddie, 59, was appointed to the Chancery Division in May 1995 and becomes… Read More »

5RB today welcomed its newest member of Chambers, Madeleine Heal. Madeleine joins to strengthen further the intellectual property practice at the media and entertainment law set. A commercial litigator who specialises in IP, Madeleine practises in all areas of… Read More »

The Royal Television Society is holding a discussion evening on the ethical issues involved in film-making on 21 June 2005. Speakers include Steve Anderson (Mentorn), Roger Graef (Films of Record), Mira King (Special Edition Films), Mark Soldinger (Firecracker… Read More »

The jury in the libel action between Liverpool and Australia football star Harry Kewell and Gary Lineker has been discharged after being unable to reach a verdict.   Kewell had sued over an article entitled “Kewell move made… Read More »

The Intellectual Property Lawyers’ Organisation was addressed over dinner last night by 5RB’s Christina Michalos on the topic of ‘Image Rights and Privacy: After Douglas v Hello!‘ The event was hosted by Gray’s Inn and chaired… Read More »

A challenge by a religious group to the BBC’s decision to transmit Jerry Springer – the Opera has been dismissed by the High Court.  The Newcastle-based, Christian Institute, had applied for a judicial review of the BBC’s decision to broadcast the… Read More »

An attempt by a US pharmaceutical testing company to prevent publication in the UK of undercover footage taken inside a US primate experimentation facility has failed.   HHJ Langan QC, sitting in the Chancery Division… Read More »

Mr Justice Munby today handed down his judgment giving the reasons for his refusal to grant an injunction to prevent transmission of a Channel 4 documentary scheduled for 8 June. The documentary, “Being Pamela”, is a portrait of… Read More »

In two food-related adjudications published today, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that a television advertisement for Kentucky Fried Chicken, which attracted a record number of complaints, was not likely adversely to affect children and did not breach the TV… Read More »

The FA Premier League has found Chelsea FC, its manager Jose Mourinho and Arsenal FC player Ashley Cole in breach of its rules over the ‘tapping-up’ of Cole.  Chelsea have been fined £300,000, Mourinho £200,000 and… Read More »

A High Court jury today awarded a former Mayor of Castlepoint in Essex £22,500 libel damages after a local businessman distributed leaflets from a plane falsely claiming that she was a shoplifter. The Claimant, Jennifer… Read More »