A leading Tory back bencher (Gary Streeter MP) has succeeded in steering a Ten Minute Rule Bill entitled Media (Transparency and Disclosure) Bill to multi party endorsement. Sadly its provisions will not (by this process alone) become law, but it does represent a bold step by a respected parliamentarian in seeking a measure of equality … Read more
The US Court of Appeals has overturned a Californian district court decision in 2005 that Google Image Search infringed copyright in photographs of nude models owned by the American soft porn publisher, Perfect 10. The district court had decided that thumbnails of Perfect 10’s copyright images stored in Google’s servers and displayed on Google Image … Read more
The format trade is now worth well over Euro 2 billion per annum worldwide, and its value grows steadily. The American Idol format alone was recently valued at $2.5 billion. Despite these remarkable numbers, and the vast sums of money that change hands daily in licence fees for television formats, the law in this area … Read more
Swan Turton is pleased to announce that Rupert Grey has joined the firm. Rupert was for a number of years a partner with Farrer & Co and is well known in the profession and the media as a defamation and privacy expert. He is ranked by independent legal directories Chambers and The Legal 500 as … Read more
A New York court has ruled that the “publicity rights” of Marilyn Monroe did not survive her death in 1962. The heirs of photographer Sam Shaw are therefore free to exploit the many iconic images of Monroe taken by their father. Marilyn Monroe left the bulk of her estate to her “method” acting mentor Lee … Read more
The long running battle over the publication of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones’ wedding photographs has finally come to an end in the House of Lords, which handed down judgment on 2 May. After a hard-fought trial Mr Justice Lindsay in the High Court found for the Douglases and OK! Magazine, awarding OK! approximately … Read more
After a 15 month legal battle Associated Newspapers has won the right to publish an account of the gay relationship between Lord Browne and his partner as the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment yesterday rejecting Lord Browne’s application for the story to be the subject of an injunction up to trial. The purchase … Read more
