This article was first published in April 2003
Who did win the war? Both sides are claiming victory. But is the winner of 9 out of 13 battles really the loser?
Where does this leave the law?The exciting vision of a new and free standing tort of privacy raised by Sedley LJ in the Court of Appeal in the first Douglas v Hello!appeal has evaporated following Mr Justice Lindsay's decision;instead the old fashioned the law of confidence the kind that was developed to protect trade secrets has sprung a new head..It can now be used by celebrities to control their image,and to protect commercial deals to publicise themselves.
Background
Catherine Zeta Jones,Michael Douglas and Northern &Shell,the publishers of OK!, sued Hello!over the publication of six unauthorised photographs of the couple's wedding at the New York Plaza Hotel on 18 November 2000.After a bidding war between OK!and Hello!the couple had given OK!the exclusive rights to cover the wedding.In return,they received £1 million and