vrijdag, april 11, 2003
Hollywood couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones won a court battle on Friday against celebrity magazine Hello!, which printed unflattering and unauthorized photos of their wedding. Zeta-Jones was outraged at the pictures, some of which showed her being fed cake by her husband. The photographer gatecrashed the wedding in New York and secretly took pictures from a camera at his hip.
The pair sued Hello! for $800,000 for printing pictures three days before official shots appeared in rival magazine OK!, which had signed a lucrative deal with the couple. OK! is also seeking damages. Zeta-Jones had told the court she felt "violated" by the unofficial photos at the plush Plaza hotel. Calling them sleazy and unflattering, she was particularly upset at shots she said made her look as if all she did was eat.
"I felt devastated... I felt violated," she said from the witness box. "I did not want my husband shoving a spoon down my throat to be photographed ... It is offensive." But Hello! maintained the couple gave up the right to privacy by selling pictures to OK!.
The High Court judge ruled against the pair on claims of invasion of privacy and rejected claims for aggravated and exemplary damages: "I do not doubt that Mr. Douglas and Miss Zeta Jones suffered real distress. Given that there was in any event to be very extensive photographic coverage of the wedding, I do not see the behavior of Hello! as so flagrant or offensive as to justify an award of aggravated damages."
Hello! publishing director Sally Cartwright said nine out of the 13 claims against them had been thrown out: "The areas where he has found against us are, frankly, commercial ones. This case was not brought about privacy but about a commercial deal: money and control."
Bron: Reuters.
The pair sued Hello! for $800,000 for printing pictures three days before official shots appeared in rival magazine OK!, which had signed a lucrative deal with the couple. OK! is also seeking damages. Zeta-Jones had told the court she felt "violated" by the unofficial photos at the plush Plaza hotel. Calling them sleazy and unflattering, she was particularly upset at shots she said made her look as if all she did was eat.
"I felt devastated... I felt violated," she said from the witness box. "I did not want my husband shoving a spoon down my throat to be photographed ... It is offensive." But Hello! maintained the couple gave up the right to privacy by selling pictures to OK!.
The High Court judge ruled against the pair on claims of invasion of privacy and rejected claims for aggravated and exemplary damages: "I do not doubt that Mr. Douglas and Miss Zeta Jones suffered real distress. Given that there was in any event to be very extensive photographic coverage of the wedding, I do not see the behavior of Hello! as so flagrant or offensive as to justify an award of aggravated damages."
Hello! publishing director Sally Cartwright said nine out of the 13 claims against them had been thrown out: "The areas where he has found against us are, frankly, commercial ones. This case was not brought about privacy but about a commercial deal: money and control."
Bron: Reuters.
# posted by Jan-Edward : 16:10
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