Well things are about to get interesting. Harry and Meghan are suing the Mail on Sunday.
Full statement here:
https://sussexofficial.uk/
Full statement here:
https://sussexofficial.uk/
I applaud Harry for taking the action he believes is right instead of the one he believes is easy. I specifically single out Harry here because he represents this "right rather than easy" as his own thoughts, rather than those of his wife Meghan. I wish to applaud her too if these are her feelings.
I wish this statement by Harry had omitted two things: the reference to his son, and the reference to his mother. The reference to his son was, in my opinion, not relevant in the way it was used. It felt it was added in as "this all happened while she was pregnant and a new mother," and if these allegations are true, they should not have occurred whether Meghan was pregnant or a new mother or not. Period. This treatment was not inappropriate because of her status as a pregnant woman or a mother, it was inappropriate because of her status as a human being. As for the reference to his mother, not only is everyone aware of what happened, but no other individual would get away with saying they are launching a legal action because they lost a family member when something similar happened. It would, and should, be set aside as irrelevant. I am sure my feelings on this will not be popular.
There is precedent for them winning this .Charles sued when they published letters of his and won citing copyright
I wish this statement by Harry had omitted two things: the reference to his son, and the reference to his mother. The reference to his son was, in my opinion, not relevant in the way it was used. It felt it was added in as "this all happened while she was pregnant and a new mother," and if these allegations are true, they should not have occurred whether Meghan was pregnant or a new mother or not. Period. This treatment was not inappropriate because of her status as a pregnant woman or a mother, it was inappropriate because of her status as a human being. As for the reference to his mother, not only is everyone aware of what happened, but no other individual would get away with saying they are launching a legal action because they lost a family member when something similar happened. It would, and should, be set aside as irrelevant. I am sure my feelings on this will not be popular.
Whilst I am happy they are taking action against the Mail for this I wish they would also take action against Thomas Markle and also wish they hadn't announced it during an official tour.
Otherwise, nice move,
Well that is certainly up for interpertation ...'edited in any way that changed it's meaning' .... will be interesting to see how that falls out.
I think it's great they are taking a stand. We don't know (yet) if any action has been taken against her father or if it can be taken. U.K. laws are different than ours I think.
I hope they win a ton of money for the charity.
It will be interesting to see if the various media outlets/reporters retaliate.
LaRae
Statement from Mail On Sunday: “The Mail on Sunday stands by the story it published and will be defending this case vigorously. Specifically, we categorically deny that the Duchess’s letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning.”
Via Chris Ship Twitter
I think that the main point is that as Meghan was the author of the letter, its contents are deemed her intellectual property. The face that the statement from the Mail on Sunday states that the letter wasn't edited in any way to change it meaning, tells me that it *was* edited. As Meghan's intellectual property, they had no right to edit it *at all* if I'm not mistaken.
I know in the U.S., limited parts of a copyrighted work can be used under "fair use"--
"In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner.
"https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/
So while the publishing of a small portion of the letter from Meghan to her father may well have been legal (but not ethical) the lawsuit is about cherry picking portions to support a false narrative.
You seem to be quoting US statutes and trying to imply a fair use defense under English law because of US law .But as already stated courts in England have already adjudicated that publishing of private letters without consent of the author is a breach of the author's implied copyright .
You seem to be quoting US statutes and trying to imply a fair use defense under English law because of US law .But as already stated courts in England have already adjudicated that publishing of private letters without consent of the author is a breach of the author's implied copyright .
“The Queen and the Prince of Wales are understood to have been “informed” about the statement, which was circulated last night. The Duke has spoken with his grandmother, a source said.”
Via The Telegraph
Falls short of saying it was approved by the higher ups. Sounds like they were told about it after the fact.