Big Pictures refused permission to appeal to the House of Lords
28 October 2008
Big Pictures (UK) Limited has been refused permission to appeal to the House of Lords in the case of Murray v Big Pictures (UK) Ltd in which Dr Neil Murray and his wife Joanne Murray (a.k.a JK Rowling) are claiming breach of privacy on behalf of their young son David Murray. Schillings act for the claimant David Murray.
Paparazzi agency Big Pictures sought to overturn the judgment of the Court of Appeal, given in May 2008, which decided that David Murray arguably had a reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to paparazzi pictures taken of him in a public place without his parents’ consent which were subsequently published in the media.
Big Pictures had successfully argued, at an earlier hearing in the High Court, that pictures taken of David whilst he was being pushed in a pram down a public street in Edinburgh were, as a matter of law, incapable of breaching his privacy as they were taken in public and showed nothing sensitive, embarrassing or untoward.
Reversing the High Court’s ruling, the Court of Appeal held that:
“if a child of parents who are not in the public eye could reasonably expect not to have photographs published of him in the media, so too should the child of a famous parent. In our opinion, it is at least arguable that a child of “ordinary” parents could reasonably expect that the press would not target him and publish photographs of him.”
Following the House of Lords refusal to hear any appeal by Big Pictures from the Court of Appeal’s judgment, the case will now proceed to trial.
Related links