The Duchess of Sussex has won her copyright claim against the Mail On Sunday for publishing a handwritten letter to her former father Thomas Markle.
Meghan, 39, sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), which also publishes MailOnline, for articles reproducing parts of the letter sent to his 76-year-old father in August 2018.
She claimed that the five articles, published in print and online in February 2019, abused her private information, violated her copyrights and violated data protection law.
The High Court granted summary judgment to Meghan in February regarding her confidentiality claim, which means she won that part of the case without having to go to trial, as well as most of her copyright claim.
Prince Harry and Meghan are now living in California after their retirement as members of the Royal Family. File Image
In the February ruling, Lord Justice Warby said ANL’s publication of Meghan’s letter to her father was “patently excessive and therefore illegal”. He added: “It was, in short, a personal and private letter.”
In a remote hearing on Wednesday, the judge rendered summary judgment in her favor over the remaining parts of the Duchess’ copyright claim, after lawyers acting on behalf of the Queen said she did not belong to the Crown.
ANL had previously said he believed Jason Knauf – former communications secretary of Prince harry and Meghan – was a co-author of the letter, which she said meant the letter belonged to the Crown.
But, on Wednesday, the High Court learned that Mr Knauf had “categorically” denied being a co-author and that lawyers representing “the keeper of the private purse, acting on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen” told lawyers of Meghan that they “had not considered the Crown is the copyright owner”.
Ian Mill QC, on behalf of the Duchess, said lawyers for the private wallet keeper wrote to Meghan’s lawyers “to denounce …
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-05-05 13:45:00
