Category: News

Government proposes changes to copyright exceptions

The Government has proposed allowing private copying of music and films, allowing parodies of copyright works and relaxing copying restrictions for schools and libraries in a major intellectual property consultation. The process is intended to implement many of… Read More »

OK! sues Heat over celebrity pregnancy story

OK! magazine has issued a copyright claim against rival celebrity gossip magazine Heat over coverage of Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy. OK!’s North American edition published an exclusive interview with Ms Spears, the younger sister of singer Britney, in which… Read More »

PCC upholds privacy complaint against OK!

The PCC has upheld a privacy complaint against OK! Magazine in respect of an article about a male celebrity which stated that he had been “spotted at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting” with his friend, the complainant. The… Read More »

Doctor settles lengthy libel action

A talented junior doctor who was suspended from work for nearly five years has won an apology from Cambridgeshire health officials. The doctor, who can be referred to only as “Z” for legal reasons, was born with a serious and life-threatening… Read More »

Channel Four fined £1.5m

Media watchdog Ofcom has fined Channel Four £1.5m for misconduct involving phone-in competitions on its Richard and Judy and Deal or No Deal programmes. It found that viewers were urged to call in to the Richard… Read More »

MOD obtains gagging order

The High Court has imposed an order preventing media publicity of allegations of abuse by British soldiers serving in Iraq. Lawyers for Iraqi families launched a High Court challenge on human rights grounds to the… Read More »

Kidman wins libel damages

Nicole Kidman has accepted substantial damages from the Daily Telegraph over allegations that she had broken her contract with perfume company Chanel.   In its Spy gossip column on DATE, the newspaper published an article falsely alleging that while in London… Read More »

Privacy payout for Sienna Miller

Sienna Miller has accepted £37,500 in compensation from Newsgroup Newspapers and Xposure Photo Agency Ltd following the publication of nude photographs of the actress in the News of the World and The Sun. The settlement amount is… Read More »

Jerry Springer: not blasphemous libel

Christian Voice, an evangelical Christian organisation, has failed to overturn a Magistrates’ decision not to allow a prosecution against the BBC and theatrical producers of Jerry Springer – The Opera as blasphemous libel. Christian Voice… Read More »

Patrick Moloney QC becomes a judge

1 Brick Court libel silk Patrick Moloney has been appointed to the Circuit Bench. After graduating from Oxford University, Patrick was called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 1976. He joined 1 Brick Court in… Read More »

Panorama rapped over wi-fi report

The BBC has upheld complaints against an edition of its flagship current affairs series Panorama about the health hazards caused by Wi-Fi. The programme, Wi-Fi: A Warning Signal, broadcast on BBC1 in May, explored whether the… Read More »

Gatley Supplement now on sale

The Second Supplement to the Tenth Edition of Gatley on Libel and Slander is now available.   Gatley is the definitive work on the law and procedure of libel and slander. The supplement includes all… Read More »

Appointment to the Bar Standards Board

Matthew Nicklin has been appointed to the Bar Standards Board, the independent body of the Bar Council responsible for regulating barristers.   The Bar Standards Board (“BSB”) was established by the Bar Council in January 2006… Read More »

Launch of The Trials of Art

Last night Withers LLP hosted a launch party for a new work – The Trials of Art – edited by Daniel McClean of Withers LLP with a foreword by Lord Hoffmann. The book is published by Ridinghouse… Read More »

Source protection boost from ECHR

A journalist with the German weekly magazine Stern has won an important victory in the European Court of Human Rights in relation to protection of sources.   In February and March 2002, the journalist, Hans Tillack, published two articles in… Read More »

Blairs win privacy payout

The Daily Mail has paid “substantial damages” in an out-of-court settlement with former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and his wife Cherie after the newspaper published photographs of the Blairs on holiday in the Caribbean.   The Blairs complained that… Read More »

Leading vet in Privy Council victory

A vet’s appeal against his removal from the register of veterinary surgeons by a Disciplinary Committee of the RCVS was today allowed by the Privy Council, and a penalty of six months substituted in its place.   Dr Alan… Read More »

Newspaper fined for naming child

The Wiltshire Gazette & Herald has been fined £3,000 and ordered to pay legal costs after identifying a child in breach of an order under s.39 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. The newspaper,… Read More »

Jerry Springer – The Opera back in Court

Christian Voice, an evangelical group, has launched judicial review proceedings of a magistrates’ court decision not to prosecute the BBC and the theatrical producers of Jerry Springer – The Opera for blasphemous libel. The controversial stage… Read More »