McKennitt sought to ban publication of passages in the
book, Travels With Loreena McKennitt: My Life As A Friend, because
she claimed that they invaded her privacy. McKennitt argued that
she had that right as a consequence of the Human Rights Act, which
was derived from the European Convention on Human Rights.
McKennitt won in the High Court and the Court of Appeal, and the
House of Lords refused to hear a final appeal.
Within days of the Lords' refusal to hear her appeal Ash
published plans for a second edition of the book attempting to
comply with the court rulings. Ash has now said that she will not
publish
McKennitt's barrister Des Browne yesterday read out a statement
to the High Court saying that Ash will pay "a substantial
contribution" to McKennitt's costs, according to The Guardian
newspaper.
The case surrounding the publication of the book has been seen
as a landmark in strengthening the rights of celebrities to
privacy.
The UK has never had a legal right to privacy, but McKennitt's
case, along with cases involving Prince Charles and Catherine Zeta
Jones and Michael Douglas, have used confidentiality laws combined
with the Human Rights Act to enforce perceived privacy rights.
