Douglas v Hello!
Encyclopedia
Douglas v Hello! Ltd [2005] EWCA Civ 595 was a series of cases in which Michael Douglas
and Catherine Zeta Jones challenged unauthorized photos of their wedding. The case resulted in OK Magazine! being awarded £1,033,156.
and Catherine Zeta Jones agreed a deal with OK! Magazine which would give the company exclusivity over their wedding which took place in 2000 at the Plaza Hotel in New York. According to the deal the couple were to approve the selection of photographs used by OK! Magazine. In order to ensure the exclusivity there was strict security of the event and no guests were allowed to take photographs, the event was closed to the media and guests were told to surrender any equipment which could be used to take photographs. However a freelance photographer Rupert Thorpe, son of the former British politician Jeremy Thorpe
, managed to get into the wedding and take photographs of the couple. This photographer then sold the images to Hello magazine which had earlier attempted to bid for the photographs. The deal with Ok magazine was worth £1,000,000.
, invasion of privacy
, breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 and intention to damage and conspiracy to injure. However the only successful claims were for breach of confidence and for the breach of the Data Protection Act. The High Court granted an injunction but this was reversed by the Court of Appeal. In the judgment Brooke LJs restated the three requirements for there to have been a breach of confidence.
Brooke LJ ruled that the couple could not expect privacy at a wedding with 250 guests.
The House of Lords agreed in a 3-2 judgment that the photographs of the wedding were confidential, that there were circumstances of confidence and that publication of the photographs had been to the detriment of OK magazine. (See OBG Ltd v Allan
).
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
and Catherine Zeta Jones challenged unauthorized photos of their wedding. The case resulted in OK Magazine! being awarded £1,033,156.
Facts
Michael DouglasMichael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
and Catherine Zeta Jones agreed a deal with OK! Magazine which would give the company exclusivity over their wedding which took place in 2000 at the Plaza Hotel in New York. According to the deal the couple were to approve the selection of photographs used by OK! Magazine. In order to ensure the exclusivity there was strict security of the event and no guests were allowed to take photographs, the event was closed to the media and guests were told to surrender any equipment which could be used to take photographs. However a freelance photographer Rupert Thorpe, son of the former British politician Jeremy Thorpe
Jeremy Thorpe
John Jeremy Thorpe is a British former politician who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976 and was the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979. His political career was damaged when an acquaintance, Norman Scott, claimed to have had a love affair with Thorpe at a time...
, managed to get into the wedding and take photographs of the couple. This photographer then sold the images to Hello magazine which had earlier attempted to bid for the photographs. The deal with Ok magazine was worth £1,000,000.
Douglas v Hello! (2001)
In Douglas v Hello No 1 [2001] 2 WLR 992 the Douglases attempted to gain an injunction to prevent the publication of unauthorized photographs. The Douglases and OK! Magazine claimed for breach of confidenceBreach of confidence
The tort of breach of confidence, is a common law tort that protects private information that is conveyed in confidence. A claim for breach of confidence typically requires the information to be of a confidential nature, which was communicated in confidence, and was disclosed to the detriment of...
, invasion of privacy
Invasion of privacy
United States privacy law embodies several different legal concepts. One is the invasion of privacy, a tort based in common law allowing an aggrieved party to bring a lawsuit against an individual who unlawfully intrudes into his or her private affairs, discloses his or her private information,...
, breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 and intention to damage and conspiracy to injure. However the only successful claims were for breach of confidence and for the breach of the Data Protection Act. The High Court granted an injunction but this was reversed by the Court of Appeal. In the judgment Brooke LJs restated the three requirements for there to have been a breach of confidence.
- There has to be an obligation of confidence;
- It arises only on private occasions;
- The prospective claimants have to make clear that no photographic pictures are to be taken.
Brooke LJ ruled that the couple could not expect privacy at a wedding with 250 guests.
Douglas v Hello! (2003)
In Douglas v Hello! No 2 [2003] EWHC 786 (Ch) OK! magazine and the Douglases were successful in claiming for breach of confidence against Hello! Ltd. as the company producing Hello!, its Spanish mother Hola! SA, and their proprietor Eduardo Sanchez Junco.Douglas v Hello! (2005)
The Judge (Lindsay J) upheld the Douglases claim to confidence. Hello subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal ruled that the OK magazine retained confidence in publishing photographs that the Douglases agreed should be published but retained a right of privacy in remaining photographs. The only way in which OK magazine could recover damages against Hello was through a claim for breach of confidence.The House of Lords agreed in a 3-2 judgment that the photographs of the wedding were confidential, that there were circumstances of confidence and that publication of the photographs had been to the detriment of OK magazine. (See OBG Ltd v Allan
OBG Ltd v Allan
OBG Ltd v Allan [2007] was a combined appeal with Douglas v Hello! Ltd and Mainstream Properties Ltd v Young and stands as the leading case on economic torts in English law.-Facts:Lord Hoffmann in his judgment summarised the facts.-Judgment:...
).