OK! says hello (again) to £1 million damages

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Introduction
This month saw the close of the final chapter in the litigation over publication of photographs of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones wedding. Back in 2000 (the year of the wedding) OK! paid £1 million for the right to exclusive photographs. Rival magazine, Hello!, then obtained and published unauthorised photographs spoiling OKs exclusive. OK! sued Hello! In 2003 Lindsay J (the trial judge) ruled that Hello! had acted in breach of confidence and awarded OK! damages assessed at £1 million. The Court of Appeal overturned that decision ruling that there was no confidentiality in Hello!s unauthorised photographs. The House of Lords, however, disagreed and has now re-instated the original award of £1,000,000 damages to OK!. In so doing, it has not only clarified the law of commercial confidence but taken further steps to protect image rights in the UK.

Harriet Campbell
harriet.campbell@schillings.co.uk
Solicitor

This article was first published on the Media Lawyer website in May 2007