High Court Refuses Injunction To Stop An Explicit Video Being Shown On Newspaper Website

This month, the High Court refused to grant an injunction to

prevent video footage of Max Mosley, the head of Formula 1

motor-racing, being shown on the News of the World website

(Case of Mosley v News Group Newspapers Limited, 9 April

2008).

The website, maintained by the defendant, News Group

Newspapers Limited (NGN), had made explicit video footage

available, then removed it voluntarily. The events had received

widespread worldwide coverage and the video had been made

available on other websites. NGN subsequently decided to make

the video available again; when notified, Mr Mosley applied for

an interim injunction to prevent this.

The court held that the material was so widely available on

other websites that granting an injunction would make very

little practical difference and would be a futile gesture, as

anyone searching for the material on the internet would be able

to find it. Eady J also found that Mr Mosley no longer had any

reasonable expectation of respect for his privacy under Article

8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR); if he did,

the law would afford no practical protection due to the extent

to which the material had entered the public domain.

However, the court dismissed the newspapers public-interest

arguments under Article 10 of the ECHR, stating that the public

interest in revealing the material is not compelling enough to

override Mr Mosleys right to protection under Art 8 of the

ECHR.

This decision highlights that Courts will be unlikely to

grant an injunction to prevent publication of material that is

already widely available online. It also serves as a warning

that courts may be unresponsive to public-interest arguments

relating to the publication of explicit material.

This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron

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