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14.03.16

Ex-husband awarded £5,000 damages for Facebook libel

The case of Stocker v Stocker, the first libel trial of 2016, provides a stark warning to those who post defamatory material on social media. In this case the Court held that the claimant had been defamed by his ex-wife and he was awarded £5,000 of damages. Background The claimant and defendant were formerly married,…

23.02.16

Max Clifford ordered to pay Royal Butler £5,000 for privacy breach

In Burrell v Clifford [2016] EWHC 294 (Ch) Princess Diana’s butler Paul Burrell succeeded in his High Court privacy claim against publicist Max Clifford. In 2002 Mr Burrell was the subject of a high profile criminal trial in which it had been alleged that he had stolen from the Royal Family.  He approached Mr Clifford…

25.09.15

Corporate defamation claims and claims against anonymous parties

Brett Wilson LLP partner Iain Wilson is interviewed by Susan Ghaiwal.  This article was first published on Lexis® PSL IP&IT on 24 September 2015. Does Brett Wilson LLP v Persons Unknown highlight how courts should approach anonymity in online cases? Iain Wilson, partner at Brett Wilson LLP, explains that the judgment shows courts recognise the harm that anonymous…

16.09.15

Brett Wilson LLP awarded damages and injunction for defamatory posting

Brett Wilson LLP has been granted an injunction prohibiting the publication of a false and defamatory posting at a successor website to the controversial Solicitors from Hell website. The law firm acted for the Law Society in the landmark class action which saw the original website closed down by the High Court in 2011 (The Law Society & Ors v Kordowski…

4.08.15

A new era for privacy law: substantial damages likely to be commonplace

In Gulati & Ors and MGN Limited [2015] EWHC 1482 (Ch) Mr Justice Mann set out guidelines for assessing damages in privacy cases. As well as providing a helpful framework for determining damages, the judgment recognised that the level of damages awarded in earlier privacy cases have often been inadequate. The facts The claimants were…

Libel no longer actionable without proof of damage, but damage can be inferred

In Lachaux v Independent Print ([2015] EWHC 2242 (QB) the High Court sought to clarify the meaning of section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013: the requirement for defamation claimants to show that a publication has caused serious harm to reputation or is likely to cause serious harm to reputation. It has been a matter…

29.03.15

Court of Appeal greenlights Data Protection Act claims for distress where no other loss

The Court of Appeal has handed down a landmark judgment in Vidal-Hall v Google Inc [2015] EWCA Civ 311 – a decision eagerly awaited by media and Data Protection practitioners. The Claimants in the action are a group of individuals who use the ‘Safari’ web browser. They claim that between Summer 2011 and February 2012…

23.01.15

Mirror Group Newspapers settle phone-hacking claims in High Court

The High Court on 22 January 2015 heard that a number of celebrities (including Cilla Black, Darren Day, Peter Andre and Jessie Wallace) had settled their claims against the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for phone hacking that was alleged to have taken place between 2000 and 2006.  The claims for misuse of private information related…

1.12.14

£443,000 awarded in libel special damages claim

In ReachLocal UK Ltd and another v Jamie Bennett and others [2014] EWHC 3405 (QB), the Claimants (both subsidiaries of an international online marketing group) sued for defamation following a campaign to discredit them by a former affiliate company and individuals connected to it.  Emails were sent to customers of the Claimants suggesting that the…

27.10.14

Lady Gaga pony libel claim settled

On 21 October 2014, the High Court considered a libel claim surrounding a polo pony named Lady Gaga in the case of Louisa Donovan and Katie Gibbons [2014] EWHC 3406 (QB).  His Honour Judge Richard Parkes QC was asked to determine the meaning of a caption that accompanied Youtube videos of Lady Gaga bucking. The…