Jamie Lynn Spears gave an interview revealing her pregnancy to
the US edition of OK! magazine, an interview which publisher
Northern and Shell claims pushed sales to record levels.
OK! claims that Heat then took quotes from its interview without
acknowledgment and used them as a basis for its own article in the
magazine. Northern and Shell said that it has begun proceedings in
the High Court against Heat owner Emap.
"We go to all possible lengths within the law to protect these
exclusives and safeguard the interests of the celebrities and of
our own readers," said Paul Ashford, group editorial director at
Northern and Shell.
"OK! magazine has established its reputation in the UK, the USA
and throughout the world by the relationship of trust it builds
with celebrities," he said.
A spokeswoman for Heat owner Emap said that the company had no
comment on the action, and could not even confirm that the action
had been taken.
A copyright law expert said that Heat could have protected
itself just by crediting any quotes it may have taken to OK!.
"It is an infringement of copyright to reproduce a substantial
part of a copyright work, such as an interview, without the consent
of the owner," said Iain Connor of Pinsent Masons, the law firm
behind OUT-LAW.COM. "Whilst there is an exception that allows news
reporting, the copyright owner must be credited. Failure to give
credit takes you outside the fair dealing exception."
Connor said that the fair dealing exception means that a whole
interview could be used without the consent of the original
publisher as long as credit is given, and as long as all the parts
taken are newsworthy.
OK! was recently involved in a landmark case over its exclusive
right to publish photographs of the wedding of Catherine Zeta Jones
and Michael Douglas in 2000. Rival Hello! published photographs
taken covertly by an attendee and OK! sued the magazine.
That case went all the way to the House of Lords, which ruled in
favour of OK! in a decision that it is thought will curb some of
the activities of paparazzi photographers.
Connor said, though, that any case between OK! and Heat will be
quite different. "OK! is perfectly within its rights to take action
against Heat for reproducing parts of the Spears interview but this
won't be on the same basis that it sued Hello in respect of the
Douglas wedding," he said. "This is a pure copyright case not
breach of 'exclusive' confidence."
The House of Lords eventually ruled that all the attendees at
the wedding were subject to an obligation of confidence to the
magazine and the £1 million deal for exclusive rights to the
photos.
The publication of photos taken without the magazine's
permission was therefore a breach of confidence, it ruled.
