OK! wins Douglas appeal
The House of Lords has today ruled, by a 3-2 majority, that Hello! magazine’s publication of unauthorised photographs of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ wedding was in breach of confidence. OK! magazine had entered… Read More »
Slave libel claim dismissed
Libel proceedings over a book that recounted an account of slavery at the hands of a former Sudanese diplomat and his wife were dismissed at the High Court today following the failure by the Claimants to… Read More »
BBC wins FOI appeal
The BBC has won its appeal to keep secret an internal report on its coverage of the Middle East. The High Court accepted that the Information Tribunal, which had ruled that the broadcaster must make the report public,… Read More »
Record PCC privacy complaints
The Press Complaints Commission has published it’s 2006 Annual Review, revealing that it received a record number of privacy complaints during last year, and investigated and resolved its most ever complaints. The Commission dealt with 231 cases relating directly… Read More »
Racing bans after corruption inquiry
Four jockeys and a trainer have been found guilty of passing inside information for reward and 6 other people have been excluded from racing premises. On Thursday 19th April 2007, after a 9 day hearing… Read More »
75k jury award upheld on appeal
The jury award of £75,000 made to Tony Purnell, the former Principal of the Jaguar Racing Formula 1 team, has been upheld by the Court of Appeal. The libel complained of was published in… Read More »
ITN sued over prison key footage
The Home Office has launched legal proceedings against ITN after it broadcast close-up images of a prison key that could allow the key to be replicated. ITN’s report on the racially motivated murder of 19-year-old Zahid Mubarek included… Read More »
Landmark privacy case in Australia
In a decision that may usher in a privacy law in Australia, a rape victim has been awarded substantial damages after a she was wrongly identified in radio broadcasts by the ABC. In a judgment handed down in Victoria’s County Court yesterday,… Read More »
McKennitt challenge rejected
The House of Lords has refused leave to appeal in the McKennitt v Ash privacy case. Niema Ash, the defendant in the case, had petitioned for permission to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal handed… Read More »
WPP libel and privacy case settles
The libel and privacy action brought by Sir Martin Sorrell against Marco Benatti and Marco Tinelli came to a premature end yesterday with Sir Martin accepting damages of £120,000. Sir Martin, chief executive of advertising… Read More »
Da Vinci Code judgment upheld
The Court of Appeal has today rejected the appeal by the authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail against the judgment of Peter Smith J, holding that he had been right to find that,… Read More »
Formula One libel actions conclude
The libel litigation between Richard Woods, the Director of Communications at the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (the governing body of world motor sport) and Tom Rubython, editor of Business F1 magazine, finally concluded today. Woods sued Rubython for… Read More »
WPP libel and privacy trial begins
The trial of the libel and privacy actions bought by Sir Martin Sorrell, the founder and CEO of the WPP advertising and marketing group, against Italian businessmen Mr Benatti and Mr Tinelli started today. The trial relates… Read More »
£10,000 damages for cricketer
The High Court has awarded £10,000 damages to Clive Lloyd, the former internationally renowned cricketer and match referee, under the summary disposal procedure for defamation claims. Mr Lloyd brought the libel action against the editor, journalist… Read More »
Jockeys banned after corruption inquiry
Four jockeys have been found guilty of passing inside information for reward and received bans and five other people have been excluded from racing premises indefinitely by the Horseracing Regulatory Authority. On Friday 16th… Read More »
Strasbourg protects right to satirise
The European Court of Human Rights has held that judgments of the Vienna Regional Criminal Court and Court of Appeal that a journalist and publisher be fined for a satirical article violate their rights under… Read More »
Beckham kidnap plot: NoW ‘sorry’
A man named by the News of the World as having been involved in a plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham accepted a public apology and a contribution to charity at the Court of Appeal this morning. The claims… Read More »
‘Rooney prostitute’ libel claim struck out
A libel claim brought by a Merseyside grandmother in relation to allegations published in The Sun that she was a prostitute and slept with Wayne Rooney while working at a brothel has been struck out. Patricia Tierney,… Read More »
Royal phone hacker jailed for 4 months
The News of the World‘s royal affairs editor was jailed for four months today for hacking into the mobile telephones of members of the royal household “several hundred” times. Clive Goodman, 49, had listened to voicemail messages left… Read More »
McKennitt v Ash to the Lords?
Niema Ash, the defendant in McKennitt v Ash, has petitioned the House of Lords for leave to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal. Ms Ash has written a book about her experiences… Read More »