Hello! rules. OK?

Douglas and others v Hello! Ltd and others (ChD TLR 21 April)

So, who won? The actor Michael Douglas and actress Catherine Zeta-Jones sued Hello! Ltd under 13 heads, including a claim for breach of confidence and breach of privacy. They succeeded on only four of the heads, including their claims for breach of confidence on the ground that photographic representation of their wedding was, in effect, a commercial or trade secret. The claim for breach of privacy was dismissed on the ground that they were adequately protected by the law of confidence. However, substantive relief did not automatically follow. A balance had to be struck between the defendants’ right to freedom of expression under article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the issue of confidentiality. The defendants had acted in breach of the Press Complaints Commission Code, and on balance, their right to freedom of expression was outweighed by the rights of the claimants under the law of confidence.