Legal Case Summary
Douglas v Hello! Ltd (No 3) [2005] EWCA Civ 595
Tort – Economic loss – Unlawful interference – Breach of Confidence – damages
Facts
The Douglases were a celebrity couple who sold exclusive photography rights of their wedding to OK! Magazine. An unauthorised freelance photographer gained access to the wedding and sold pictures to Hello! Magazine, a rival competitor. The Douglases sought an interlocutory injunction restraining publication which was initially granted, but then lifted several days later. OK! Magazine brought their publication forward to compete, incurring expenses. The Douglases and OK!’s publisher sued for damages. Lindsay J awarded £14,600 to the Douglases and £1,033,156 to OK!’s publisher. Hello! appealed.
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Issues
Did publication of the unauthorised wedding photographs breach duties of confidence owed to the Douglases or to OK!’s publisher? The court also considered the publisher’s economic tort claims and the claimants’ cross-appeal on damages.
Decision / Outcome
The Court of Appeal dismissed Hello!’s appeal against the award to the Douglases. They had retained privacy in the parts of the wedding shown in the unauthorised photographs. Their agreement to publish selected photographs did not entitle Hello! to publish the others. The court also upheld the finding of commercial confidence in favour of the Douglases.
The court allowed Hello!’s appeal against the award to OK!’s publisher. It held that the publisher’s commercial confidence claim failed and dismissed its cross-appeal on the economic torts. It also dismissed the claimants’ cross-appeal seeking damages based on a hypothetical licence fee.
Later appeal
The House of Lords [2007] UKHL 21 later allowed the appeal by OK!’s publisher on breach of confidence and restored its damages award.
