Last week saw the latest development in the Duchess of Sussex’s case against the publisher of the Mail and Mail on Sunday, Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), with the Duchess winning the copyright element of the claim.
The Duchess of Sussex’s claim is for breach of privacy, copyright, and data protection, and back in February our column covered the High Court’s ruling that she had been successful in her privacy claim, and partly successful in the copyright claim.
To summarise briefly, the case is based on the Mail and Mail on Sunday’s publication of substantial parts of a handwritten letter from the Duchess to her estranged father Thomas Markle, which was sent before her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
In February this year Mr Justice Warby awarded summary judgment in the Duchess’ favour in relation to the privacy claim, stating that the contents of the letter related to “inherently private and personal matters”, and that the “disclosures were manifestly excessive and hence unlawful”.
The judge also ruled that she had been successful in her claim for breach of copyright, subject to the issue of the ownership of the copyright being addressed. ANL is seeking permission to appeal February’s ruling to the Court of Appeal.
In relation to the claim for breach of copyright ANL had argued that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s former communications secretary, Jason Knauf, had co-authored the letter, and therefore the Duchess was not the sole copyright…
