Latest news

Media regulator Ofcom has today fined GMTV a record £2,000,000 for misconduct in viewer phone-in competitions between August 2003 and February 2007. In its ruling, Ofcom said the case “involved the widespread and systematic deception… Read More »

The annual Legal 500 review of the legal profession has named 5RB as a leading set for Defamation & Privacy, Media & Entertainment Law and Intellectual Property.   5RB came equal top in Defamation & Privacy, with the independent survey noting the set’s “knowledge… Read More »

The Media Law Resource Centre, returns to London from 16-19 September 2007, for its annual conference which will take place at Stationers’ Hall. The not-for-profit organisation was founded by US media organisations to monitor developments… Read More »

Hypnotist Paul McKenna today lost his bid for indemnity costs in his libel action against the Daily Mirror over false allegations that he had obtained a PhD from an “obscure degrees-by-post establishment in Louisiana” in an… Read More »

The BBC and the company behind the Richard and Judy premium rate telephone quiz have both been fined by their respective regulators after investigations into telephone competition irregularities. Ofcom, the media regulator, fined the BBC £50,000 after… Read More »

5RB has been ranked in the Financial Times list of the top Innovative Lawyers for 2007. The survey, published today, praised 5RB and other winners for their “willingness to take proactive steps to respond to business pressures and to… Read More »

Three people wrongly accused of murder settled their civil actions against the Chief Constable of Northumbria today after the police accepted they were innocent and paid damages and costs.   Joanne Morgan, Ian Morgan and… Read More »

The couple in the high-profile care case of Norfolk County Council v Webster learned today that they can keep their fourth child. The Council is dropping its case to take the boy, Brandon, into care.  … Read More »

Ofcom has today fined Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd £300,000 for breaches of the Broadcasting Code in the transmission of the phone-in quiz programme, Brainteaser. This is the largest financial penalty the regulator has imposed on… Read More »

The defendant at the centre of a privacy row involving photographs of Harry Potter author, J. K. Rowling’s son, has gone to the High Court this week to try and strike out his claim.   Over three days… Read More »

A Scotland Yard staff member has pleaded guilty to “wilful misconduct in a judicial or public office” for leaking secret documents to the Sunday Times that led to an article on April 22 claiming that Iraq-based… Read More »

A jury has awarded Labour MP Martyn Jones £5,000 in damages arising from the publication of an allegation in the Mail on Sunday that he repeatedly swore at a House of Commons security guard upon being… Read More »

Michael Hollingsworth today failed in an attempt to persuade a judge that the Daily Mail should pay him the full £75,000 libel damages awarded to him by a jury last month.   The jury awarded… Read More »

Turkish businessman Remzi Gur has been awarded £85,000 libel damages over allegations published in the Avrupa newspaper. Mr Gur, resident in the UK, brought the claim against the Turkish language newspaper after it published three articles, one on the front page, alleging that he was guilty… Read More »

The ex-husband of Anne Diamond was awarded £75,000 libel damages by a High Court jury today over a claim in the Daily Mail that he struck the first blow during a drink-fuelled row which ended his affair… Read More »

The Attorney General has announced plans for detailed research into the effects on juries of the media’s coverage of criminal cases, a step which could lead to an overhaul of the contempt laws. In a speech last night, he… Read More »

Ofcom today published its Adjudication on Channel Four’s broadcast of Celebrity Big Brother in January this year. The regulator instigated its investigation after receiving just over 44,500 complaints about the series, fuelled by intense media… Read More »

The Press Complaints Commission has not upheld complaints made by Gail Sheridan, the wife of politician Tommy Sheridan, and by a police officer, that newspapers had invaded their privacy and thereby breached the Code of Practice…. Read More »

A report by the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has backed calls by the likes of Sir Cliff Richard and Paul McCartney and recommended that protection of performers’ rights be extended from 50 to… Read More »

The Sun breached Charlotte Church’s privacy by reporting the news of her pregnancy without the singer’s consent.   The Press Complaints Commission ruling has confirmed its stance that reporting news of a pregnancy before the 12-week stage without the… Read More »