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The Duchess of Sussex is not giving up her legal dispute with a British tabloid despite an early setback announced on Friday (Saturday, New Zealand time).
Parts of Meghan’s lawsuit against the tabloid publisher Daily mail They were eliminated in a London ruling, leaving her a loser in the initial legal fight, but vowing to pursue her top claims of copyright and privacy violation.
“Massive setback”, the Daily mail It said in its headline about Judge Mark Warby’s ruling, issued after a preliminary hearing in the case last Friday by video conference due to the blockade of the coronavirus pandemic that still plagues Britain.
In a statement issued to USA NOWADAYS By his London law firm, Schillings, his team said the ruling makes clear their main claim in their lawsuit they filed last fall: that the Mail on Sunday and the online Daily mail He published his 2018 private letter to his separated father in violation of British law: Stay and you can win.
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Meghan Markle is committed to continuing her main complaints of copyright and privacy infringement.
“The Duchess of Sussex’s rights were violated; legal limits on privacy were crossed,” the statement said. “As part of this process, the extremes to which The mail on Sunday Distorting, manipulative, and dishonest tactics were used to attack the Duchess of Sussex. “
But the judge’s ruling rejected his claims about the tabloid’s alleged dishonesty and malice, ruling that they are irrelevant to his lawsuit as a matter of law and precedent.
“I do not consider the allegations in question to go to the ‘heart’ of the case, which in essence refers to the publication of five articles that reveal the words and information drawn from the letter written by (Meghan) to her father in August 2018. “said the ruling.
This means associated newspapers, the publisher of the MailYou don’t have to defend your journalism, tactic, or intention, only if you violated copyright and privacy law by publishing your letter to Thomas Markle, 75.
“These are not essential ingredients of (this lawsuit) but irrelevant in determining whether there is a valid claim,” the ruling concluded. “(Meghan’s) arguments that motive and mood are among the circumstances to consider are contrary to (legal precedent).”
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Meghan and Prince Harry have been at war with the tabloid media for years.
The ruling also said its accusation that the tabloid newspaper had maliciously tried to spark conflict between the duchess and her father in the headlines is “inadmissibly vague and lacking in detail.”
There was no immediate statement from The mailLawyers, but the publisher denied Meghan’s allegations and promised to vigorously defend herself in court.
Among other defenses, the publisher’s legal team argued at the hearing last week that Meghan intended her letter to be published, citing her “immaculate handwriting” and a People Magazine article they think he orchestrated.
Because the ruling made it clear that none of the removed items are necessary for Meghan to win her lawsuit, she will not appeal the decision, the statement from her legal team said.
In British civil cases, preliminary “strike” hearings can be held to decide whether to reduce the problems before a trial, which is expected to continue in this case in early 2021.
Sussex lawyers praised the ruling for acknowledging its similarities to the case brought by Meghan’s father-in-law Prince Charles against Associated Newspapers after The mail Excerpts published from the private newspapers of the Prince of Wales. Associated newspapers lost that case in 2006, but damage to Charles’s reputation remained.
British legal analysts have already predicted that the same kind of pyrrhic victory is possible in Meghan’s case: she could win (because she controls the copyright of her letter as a matter of law) but still suffer damage to her reputation after a trial in which she has to testify against her own father.
Such a trial would likely be a donnybrook, says media attorney Mark Stephens of the Howard Kennedy firm in London, who has been following the case.
“Meghan against her father on the stand, would be a journalistic blessing for him Mail and all the rest of the media, “says Stephens.” So a possible victory in a future trial for Meghan and the media will continue to gain readers, viewers and clicks, with only the risk of damaging Meghan’s reputation. “
Meghan and Prince Harry, whom she married in May 2018 at Windsor Castle, have been at war with tabloid media almost since the start of their relationship in 2016, accusing some editors of increasingly hostile coverage, dishonest and even racist.
In the fall of 2019, they both filed separate lawsuits against different tabloids; yours is the first to reach a preliminary hearing stage.
In January, after the couple announced that they would stop performing their duties as members of the senior working royalty and move to North America (they and their son Archie now live in Los Angeles, where he was born and raised), the fury over the Sussex reached a crescendo. .
Last month, they sent letters to four tabloids stating that they would no longer have any contact with their journalists, further fueling fury at their behavior and decisions.
Meghan, quarantined with Harry and Archie in Los Angeles, made headlines on Wednesday by posting a video and message of encouragement on the website of her London charity, Smart Works, which helps unemployed women find employment.
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