Camera shy – the interaction between the camera and the law of privacy in the UK

Abstract

Modern man appears to have an insatiable thirst for learning about the private lives of others, and the media is happy to indulge him, constantly informing, updating, educating and entertaining via newspapers, periodicals, radio, television and the Internet. This can pit two competing rights against each other – the right of the individual to personal privacy and the right of the media to freedom of expression. One of the most hotly contested battle grounds in this ongoing war is over the publication of photographs in our celebrity obsessed society. As the battle rages, the nascent law of privacy in the UK is constantly evolving. This paper aims to give an overview of the evolution of the law of privacy in the UK focussing on the way in which these two rights to privacy and freedom of expression compete against each other in the context of photographs.

Keywords:

• privacy
• photograph
• law

Notes

Christina Michalos, The Law of Photography and Digital Images (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2004): 2.

Informa.

Kaye v Robertson [1991] FSR 62.

Bingham in Kaye v Robertson.

Coco v Clarke [1969] RPC 41.

Prince Albert v Strange (1849) 1 H&TW 1, 1302; 1 Mac & G 25, 41 ER 1171, CA.

Douglas v Hello! [2003] EWHC 786 (Ch); [2003] 3 All ER 996; [2003] EMLR 641.

Douglas v Hello! Ltd (no 8) [2005] EWCA Civ 595; [2005] EMLR 609; The Times 24 May 2005; The Times 26 May 2005.

Douglas v Hello! [2007] UKHL 21 (no 8) (HL).

Lord Hoffmann in Douglas v Hello! Ltd [2004] UKHL.

Lord Nicholls in Campbell v MGN Ltd [2004] UKHL.

Sedley J in Douglas v Hello! [2001] QB 967; [2001] 2 WLR 992; [2001] 2 All ER 289; [2001] EMLR 199; [2001] FSR 732.

Campbell v MGN Ltd [2004] UKHL 22; [2004] 2 AC; [2004] 2WLR 1232; [2004] EMLR 247.

Lord Hoffman in Campbell v MGN Ltd.

Lord Nicholls in Campbell v MGN Ltd.

Ibid.

Lord Hoffman in Campbell v MGN Ltd.

Baroness Hale in Campbell v MGN Ltd.

Lord Carswell in Campbell v MGN Ltd.

Lord Hope in Campbell v MGN Ltd.

Ibid.

Baroness Hale in Campbell v MGN Ltd.

Ibid.

European Court of Human Rights, Von Hannover v Germany [2004] EMLR 379; (2005) 40 EHRR 1.

Ibid.

Murray v Express Newspapers Plc and Another [2007] EWCH 1908 (Ch); [2007] EMLR 583; [2007] 3 FCR 331; [2007] HRLR 44; [2007] UKHRR 1322; [2007] Fam law 1073; (2007) 157 NLJ 1199; (2008) 1 RLR 704; The Times, 4 October 2007.

Patten J in Murray v Express Newspapers Plc and Another.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Court of Appeal in Murray v Express Newspapers Plc and Another.

Lord Hoffman in Campbell v MGN Ltd.

Theakston v MGN Ltd [2002] EMLR 398.

Jagger v Darling Unreported UKHC Bell J March 2005.

Peck v United Kingdom application no. 44647/98.

Baroness Hale in Campbell v MGN Ltd.

Lord Hoffman in Campbell v MGN Ltd.

McKennitt v Ash [2006] EWCA Civ 1714; [2007] EMLR 113; The Times 10 December 2006.

Eady J in McKennitt v Ash.

Patten J in Murray v Express Newspapers Plc and Another.

Douglas v Hello! Ltd.

Mosley v News Group Newspapers [2008] EWCH 687 (QB).

Eady J in Mosley v News Group Newspapers.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Eady J in McKennitt v Ash.