Max Mosley wins privacy case in France

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

The News of the World violated the privacy of ex-Formula One boss Max Mosley by publishing photos of him with prostitutes in 2008, a court in Paris has ruled.

The now-defunct tabloid's owner News Corp was fined 10,000 euros (£8,600).

Mr Mosley was granted damages of 7,000 euros, with an additional 16,000 euros for procedural fees.

Mr Mosley has already won damages in the British courts, but sued in France where the paper was also distributed.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15641211

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I have a feeling he was expecting the damages award to be higher.

[Blue_Tires]

1. Mosley would have been SOL in the U.S.

"true but embarrassing" is fair game here...

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. European press freedoms are much more limited than many in the US realize

It is one of the reasons internet libel suits are often done in the UK rather than the US

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. The libel law in England and Wales is different; it is likely to be changed however.

In England and Wales (not the UK as a whole) in order to bring a charge of libel it has to be shown that what was published "causes damage to reputation"; truth is not an absolute defence in a libel case, unlike the US. Which is why you have the phenomenon of "libel tourism" and people suing in English courts (see here).

However "invasion of privacy" isn't the same thing as "libel". The more worrying issue is the interpretation of things which are available online in any country as having been "published" in say France (when the publication occurred in the UK) or in the UK (when you're talking about an American blogger being sued in a British court for libel).

[truebrit71]

5. Your second point is the most worrying...

...he went "country shopping" to find the most lenient of standards in order to further his own financial gains from the publishing of a story that was perfectly legitimate..The fact that he could sue, and win, rather than face jail time is staggering..

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Truth is an absolute defence, but the defendant has to prove it is true

and that burden of proof is what makes it difficult to defend a libel case, especially if people are willing to lie on behalf of the person who is suing. In the link you give, note that the defence of 'justification' is "the substance and fact of what they have written is true", but "the burden of proof rests with the defendant to show their words are defensible".

[truebrit71]

3. Max "Brownshirt" Mosley is a dirty old man...

...that got off on some spectacularly violent S&M action between consenting adults....

He shouldn't have been awarded a single farthing though...he paid for sex with prostitutes...that is a crime...he needs to be prosecuted, not rewarded financially..

[Spider Jerusalem]

6. Actually, that isn't a crime

technically prostitution is not illegal in the UK; "keeping a brothel" is illegal. And then there's the question of whether a professional dominatrix/dominatrices who provide clients with BDSM "sessions" where there's no actual intercourse are "engaging in prostitution" as usually defined; whipping and so on aren't necessarily "sex" although more loosely defined they may be sexual in nature.

[truebrit71]

7. There was intercourse in his sessions..

..disgusting though that thought is to the mind's eye...