Hello! wins appeal battle against rival OK! in Zeta-Jones case

LONDON - Hello! magazine has won its long-running appeal against rival OK! and will not have to pay over £1m in damages for publishing unauthorised pictures from the wedding of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas.

In a ruling today, Master of the Rolls Lord Philips said that Hello!'s publication of the photographs had not breached OK!'s commercial rights. The judge also threw out a claim by the celebrity couple for more cash.

The pair had been looking for an increase to the £14,600 damages they were awarded in 2003 by the High Court for distress and breach of privacy.

Hello! launched its appeal in December following the court case about illicitly published pictures of Zeta-Jones and Douglas' wedding.

At the time, Hello!'s solicitor Chris Hutchings described the move as nothing more than a spoiler, which he said was no different to any other spoiler in the past or since.

"Hello! has been subject to many spoilers, including ones from OK!," he said.

Hello! had not challenged the award made to the Douglases, just the commercial damages awarded to OK!, which it said were too high.

The six-week 2003 hearing at the High Court saw Justice Lindsay rule that Hello! breached the Douglases' rights of confidence but that they had no claim in invasion of privacy.

He awarded the couple £14,600 and OK! won £1,033,156 for commercial damage, because the magazine had an exclusive £1m deal with the couple to photograph their wedding.

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