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 »
5RB Charity Quiz 2007
5RB hosted a charity pub quiz at the Bung Hole yesterday evening to raise funds for the Bar Pro Bono Unit and the Free Representation Unit (FRU). Teams from leading media organisations and solicitors firms… Read More »
£40,000 damages awarded in ‘sex act’ trial
A jury has awarded £40,000 damages to Mark Stickland, former manager of rock band Bullet For My Valentine, over an article in alleging that he had been found “pleasuring himself” in a dressing room. Mr Stickland brought the… Read More »
Prince of Wales judgment upheld
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by the Mail on Sunday against Blackburne J’s decision to grant the Prince of Wales summary judgment against them over their publication of his Hong Kong journal…. Read More »
Organist wins authorship claim
Matthew Fisher has won his claim to joint authorship of Procol Harum’s classic “A Whiter Shade of Pale”. The organist was brought in by the group to record the organ part to the song, the… Read More »
New blow for kiss and tell?
A legal case brought by a Canadian singer against a former friend and employee is likely to threaten the future of kiss ‘n’ tell stories after the Court of Appeal recognised enhanced rights of privacy following the von Hannover decision of the European Court of… Read More »
Newspaper snooping chart revealed
The Information Commissioner has named 31 publications involved with a firm of private investigators involved in the illegal trade of personal information. Published as part of a follow-up report What Price Privacy Now? the list named… Read More »
Gowers publishes Review of IP system
Andrew Gowers’ Review of Intellectual Property in the UK, initiated by the Chancellor Gordon Brown, was published today. It found that the current IP system is fundamentally strong, but made a number of recommendations for improvement. Arguing that… Read More »
No retrospective public access to court documents
The Civil Procedure Rules Committee has confirmed that new rule CPR 5.4C will be amended to give non-parties access to statements of case filed at court by parties to litigation only on or after 2nd… Read More »
Privacy case in the Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal today begins hearing the Defendant’s appeal in the privacy case brought by Canadian folk singer and composer, Loreena McKennitt. In December last year, the singer successfully sued a former friend who had… Read More »
OK! v Hello! reaches the Lords
The long-running dispute between the celebrity magazines OK! and Hello! over the publication of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones’ wedding photographs reaches the House of Lords today. OK! Magazine is appealing the Court of Appeal’s ruling in May… Read More »
Blogs win US libel immunity
Bloggers and US internet providers are not liable for defamatory remarks written by third parties posted on their websites, the California Supreme Court has ruled. Overturning an earlier decision by the San Francisco appeal court, the court ruled that people… Read More »
Covert surveillance did not breach RIPA
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal has ruled that the filming of a former police officer mowing his lawn while on a disability allowance did not breach the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA). The former sergeant asked the Tribunal to… Read More »