Harry & Meghan: Legal Actions against the Media

[Charlie1224]

I’m not sure why Kate’s messages would matter if she chooses not to sue, which she obviously has chosen so far. There have been a good number of cases settled from phone hacking. They are separate from each other.

[Rudolph]

Mike: "I'm going to sue Harry and Meghan. I want the money back for every single thing that these pair have taken off of us as taxpayers. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - you two are an absolutely disgrace."

Listen: Talk Radio

A bit of flavour from the airwaves. Thank god free speech is part of democratic debate.

[ACO]

Originally Posted by Rudolph

Mike: "I'm going to sue Harry and Meghan. I want the money back for every single thing that these pair have taken off of us as taxpayers. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - you two are an absolutely disgrace."

Listen: Talk Radio

A bit of flavour from the airwaves. Thank god free speech is part of democratic debate.

Good luck with that there Mike.

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by ACO

Good luck with that there Mike.

Let's hope that the money that Mike makes that pays his taxes is enough that he never needs the benefits of any of the charities and organizations and programs that Harry and Meghan are championing.

Free speech is a privilege but not being able to see what the big picture is beyond the cost in green dollars is ignorance.

[Zaira]

Originally Posted by Rudolph

Some Commentary from The Spectator. It’ll be interesting going forward how this all plays out in the ‘court’ of public opinion.




Entire article: https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/1...-on-the-press/

The Spectator doesn't like it? Quelle surprise. Meghan and Harry just breath and it gets them up in arms. The ring-wing media are part of the issue at hand.

And I see this is another OTT piece from Ms Williams. Well lets just say her views are best left for the bin.

[Osipi]

We all knew, just as God made little green apples, that there would be an onslaught of published opinions both negative and positive resulting from the announcement of lawsuits. Everyone and their grandmother's pet budgie is going to be having an opinion, taking advantage of the situation to call attention to themselves and proselytizing to sway other's opinions to their "side" and in general, cause chaos and mayhem.

I'm actually more interested in the legal actions themselves, the charges and how it may all go down in a court of law rather than being bombarded with what is "out there". In posting links to various "reactions" available, what it means for me is that these links are being posted as "taking sides" or for the shock and awe value. I don't read them nor am I going to. If there's a link posted that is reporting on the actual charges and the ins and outs of the legal action being taken, please advise me when posted? I'd appreciate it.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by Rudolph

Mike: "I'm going to sue Harry and Meghan. I want the money back for every single thing that these pair have taken off of us as taxpayers. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - you two are an absolutely disgrace."

Listen: Talk Radio

A bit of flavour from the airwaves. Thank god free speech is part of democratic debate.

Free Speech is not the issue here. Infringements of copyright, of correspondence and of privacy are the issues here. Earlier the Princess of Hannover and the then Prince of Orange have started similar lawsuits, always referring to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights: "Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence."

In my idea the unauthorised publishing of private letters and of eavesdropped voice-mails are practices which deserve an opinion and eventual action from a Court of Justice. That is what the Sussexes did. Nothing to do with 'Free Speech' .

[wyevale]

As the Spectator article rightly points out the letter in question was already in the 'public domain', several of the Duchess' friends seeing fit to comment on it..

Are they too to be sued for copyright infringement ?

[BlackHat]

Ah yes, Free Speech. That beloved and much protected virtue.... until someone in the limelight speaks about climate change and feminism. :)

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by wyevale

As the Spectator article rightly points out the letter in question was already in the 'public domain', several of the Duchess' friends seeing fit to comment on it..

Are they too to be sued for copyright infringement ?

Commenting on a letter in the public domain is not the same as being the responsible for bringing said letter into the public domain.

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Im not looking forward to hearing from The Markles every week from months on end. Now this is going to give them more ammunition to run to the press and talk nonsense. They had been mostly quiet for months now...and this is just going to make them more appealing to the press who want any kind of news story.

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Originally Posted by Ista

In my opinion, the Sussexes would have been much better off to bring the lawsuit without publishing Harry's highly emotional letter. The merits of the lawsuit stand on their own, and the details about the letter Meghan wrote, Meghan's father, and their relationship are already likely to result in much more attention, discussion, press coverage, and muck raking than anyone would want to have to deal with. Harry's letter just adds more grist to the mill, and results in lots of unnecessary speculation, as we have seen on this thread.

The capper is that it is likely to fuel even more critical and speculative coverage in the press, and the timing altered the trajectory of the overall positive coverage of the SA tour in a way that pretty effectively killed the momentum the last day and a half of the tour. The letter and its publication is making me question Harry's judgment a bit.

edited for clarity

Very good points, the filing of a lawsuit was enough. No need to get over emotional with the situation; I understand he's angry but be angry in private and professional cool and calm in public.

[Madame Verseau]

Originally Posted by XeniaCasaraghi

Im not looking forward to hearing from The Markles every week from months on end. Now this is going to give them more ammunition to run to the press and talk nonsense. They had been mostly quiet for months now...and this is just going to make them more appealing to the press who want any kind of news story.

I don't think the Markles are going to be interviewed soon especially Dad by DM. If Dad is called an interview by DM could be seen as witness tampering I think since it is the respondent in Meghan's case. The press is circling the wagons and a Markle interview could be use as ammunition for the lawyers. You saw what happened when Dad released the letter and did the interview. Instead of exonerating him the letter reveal proves Dad lied about no contact from Meghan. Interviews about the case could be used as evidence and could open the paper up to future litigation since the Markles' contribution to dragging Meghan's character is well documented for three years.

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by Madame Verseau

Interviews about the case could be used as evidence and could open the paper up to future litigation since the Markles' contribution to dragging Meghan's character is well documented for three years.

Um... nothing about any of these lawsuits is in regards to dragging Meghan's character through the mud There is no law against having a negative opinion about someone.

The Markles will not be called on for this court case about the letter Meghan wrote. Whether they talk to the press or not is their own choice. The central point of the copyright lawsuit is someone publishing a private letter into the public domain without permission from its author.

If I, as an example, went rummaging through the trash cans at KP and found a copy of that letter in Meghan's handwriting and then came here and posted every word of it verbatim or abridged, it could be *me* going to court in this matter. That's why there are copyright rules strictly enforced here by our moderators. It has nothing to do with character assassination at all.

[Jacknch]

Indeed, let's keep the Markle's out of this thread since they have little to do with the topic of the thread or the Court case as far as we know. Thank you.

[alvinking]

interesting deposition about phone hacking back in the days.
Harry's target is clear

https://youtu.be/OfbAlsJhIaY

[tommy100]

I 100% agree with Ista, they should have just gone ahead with the lawsuit without the, somewhat overly emotional, letter from Harry. I understand it must be hard to see your wife criticised in public but let the law take its course without the need for an emotional outburst.

I find it interesting that they are taking legal action over specific things - e.g copyright and phone tapping which are somewhat legally clear cut but Harry's letter was all about how mean and unfair the media were.

[US Royal Watcher]

I've been following this with interest. I completely agree that Harry should have a cause of action against anyone who hacks into phone messages. Those are absolutely private and hacking is illegal.

On the other hand - although I am very sympathetic to Meghan with respect to the publication of the letter (which I haven't read) - I don't think she should be able to prevail in this case. Obviously, I don't know British law, but it seems to me that the letter belongs to Mr. Markle, and he shared it with the press. Yes, they are her words but, if Meghan wins, it would make it difficult to share the contents of letters they received during the statutory copyright protection. Taken to the extreme, I wouldn't be able to share a letter from a Minister without his or her permission. That doesn't seem right to my American sensibilities - again, I don't know British law.

The fact that I don't think Meghan should be able to prevail in court does not alter my view that the media should not have published the letter--and her father should not have shown it to them. There should be journalistic standards and integrity. The public really doesn't have a 'right' to know about Meghan's relationship with her family. Some people are interested, but no public interest is served by these types of disclosures.

[alvinking]

Originally Posted by tommy100

I 100% agree with Ista, they should have just gone ahead with the lawsuit without the, somewhat overly emotional, letter from Harry. I understand it must be hard to see your wife criticised in public but let the law take its course without the need for an emotional outburst.

I find it interesting that they are taking legal action over specific things - e.g copyright and phone tapping which are somewhat legally clear cut but Harry's letter was all about how mean and unfair the media were.

I get the feeling you don't see the endgame eventhough it is obvious

The statement is a PR move, to highlight he bullying of his wife, not only domestically but also internationally.
From now on, everybody, even the foreign press will keep an eye on the tabloids looking for the said bullying
The there is the public opinion he wants on his side, since a large part of the population despise that kind of press, and their suits are like proxies
finally in the political realm through public outrage he want to reactivate a Leveson inquiry 2.0, to put an end the press practices once and for all, hence the reactivation of the phone hacking thing. It is simple, understandable by everybody, outrageous and unacceptable in addition to getting after Piers Morgan specifically

[Dman]

Originally Posted by XeniaCasaraghi

Very good points, the filing of a lawsuit was enough. No need to get over emotional with the situation; I understand he's angry but be angry in private and professional cool and calm in public.

Oh, they’re cool and calm when they’re in public. They’re just fighting for some justice behind the scenes. Folks don’t have to worry about their public appearances. They’re professional and have duties to attend to.

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This is a good article from August on what the powerful outside forces are doing to Meghan-

“The Agonizing Press Behind Meghan Markle” -
https://medium.com/@pngwrites/the-ag...e-914a4c2e50e4