Year: 2008

Author wins book order reprieve

The High Court has ruled that an order requiring the co-author of a book on a former Al-Qaeda recruiter and fundraiser to make his research for the book available to police was correct in principle but was… Read More »

London Paper apologises to Mayor

The London Paper, the free newspaper produced by News International in London and the South-East has apologised to the London Mayor, Boris Johnson for publishing photographs of his children whilst on holiday in Turkey. Mr Johnson… Read More »

ECJ: 3’s use of O2 trade mark lawful

O2 has failed to stop rival mobile operator 3 making use of O2’s name and bubbles trade marks in price-comparison advertising, the ECJ has ruled. The UK Court of Appeal had asked the European Court… Read More »

MEP wins ‘gravy train’ libel damages

The publisher of The Sunday Times has apologised to MEP Nigel Farage for alleging that he was a ‘hypocrite’ for using EU funds to employ his son as an assistant while he was in fact still in full-time education…. Read More »

Duo lose Busted royalties claim

Two founder members of former pop group Busted today lost their claim to have written two of the group’s biggest hits, and with it their claim to an estimated £10m in royalties. Ki McPhail and… Read More »

Job seeker wins Express apology

A mother of five who was falsely labelled a ‘scrounger’ by the Daily Express has settled her libel claim against the publishers of the newspaper after they agreed to publish an apology and correction and… Read More »

Rooney book libel case settles

Everton manager David Moyes has today settled his libel claim against England footballer Wayne Rooney, writer Hunter Davies and publisher HarperCollins over allegations in Rooney’s autobiography.   ‘Wayne Rooney – My Story So Far’, written… Read More »

New Anti-Doping Advisor qualifies

5RB’s Christina Michalos has been certified by UK Sport as an accredited Anti-Doping Advisor under the “100% Me” programme.   UK Sport is the UK’s National Anti-Doping Organization under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code. The 100% Me Programme is an athlete-centred… Read More »

Newspapers fined by French court

Two British newspaper publishers have been fined in French courts because articles on their websites violated French privacy laws. Olivier Martinez, ex-boyfriend of Kylie Minogue, sued Mirror Group Newspapers and Associated Newspapers for infringement of… Read More »

Boris Johnson lodges privacy complaint

The new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has lodged a privacy complaint with the Press Complaints Commission after The London Paper yesterday published photographs of his children on a family holiday in Turkey. Mr Johnson… Read More »

Magazine in trouble over payment offer

Weekly magazine Full House has been found in breach of the press regulator’s Code of Practice after a journalist offered money to a witness in a criminal trial in an attempt to secure an interview. The incident happened during the trial of Kate Knight,… Read More »

Ofcom clears C4’s BB of unfairness

Ofcom has rejected a complaint from a former Big Brother contestant who claimed that the show had been edited to “humiliate and misrepresent her”. Dawn Blake, who appeared in the seventh series of the hit… Read More »

Online and privacy complaints to PCC on the rise

The Press Complaints Commission has released its Annual Report for 2007, revealing that it received a record number of complaints about invasion of privacy and that, for the first time, the majority of complaints concerned material published… Read More »

Kiss ‘n’ tell and snatched photos

5RB’s Desmond Browne QC addressed the Chancery and Professional Negligence Bar Associations at their seminar on privacy and confidentiality held at Lincoln’s Inn this evening.   Mr Browne’s speech, entitled “Kiss & Tell Stories and Snatched… Read More »

Italian magazine wins in High Court

Libel claims brought against L’Espresso, an Italian magazine, were dismissed today on various grounds following a 3 day trial in the High Court.   Two companies from the Atlantis World gaming group brought claims in… Read More »

C4 Dispatches wins ‘fakery’ damages

The makers of Channel 4’s Dispatches investigation Undercover Mosque have won a public apology and six-figure libel settlement from West Midlands Police and the Crown Prosecution Service after false accusations of TV fakery.   The settlement followed… Read More »

Hurley and Grant win privacy claim

Actress Elizabeth Hurley, her husband Arun Nayur, and actor Hugh Grant today received an apology, £25,000 in damages and payment of their legal costs from photographic agencies Big Pictures Ltd and Eliot Press SARL for… Read More »

Survey reveals bloggers unaware of libel risks

Only 5 per cent of internet users are clear on their legal responsibilities, a new survey for solicitors DLA Piper has found, despite the increasing use of blogs, message boards and social networking sites. The survey, of… Read More »

ITV pays £5.6 million price for phone in scandal

In the latest development in the “phone in” scandal  the broadcast regulator Ofcom announced today that it was imposing fines totalling £5,675,000 in respect of various programmes broadcast on ITV.   The programmes found by Ofcom to… Read More »