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Duchess Meghan wins in court (archive image)
Photo: POOL New / REUTERS
Duchess Meghan has won the next success in court in a lawsuit against the British newspaper group Associated Newspapers.
The London High Court gave her sole copyright to a letter she sent her father in May 2018.
After the tabloids "Daily Mail", "Mail on Sunday" and the Internet portal "Mail Online" published excerpts from the letter, Meghan sued Associated Newspapers for violation of their privacy and copyright and demanded damages.
On both counts, the judge considered the arguments of Meghan's lawyers last February to be so convincing that he agreed to forego a trial with testimony.
"The plaintiff had the understandable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private," said the court's decision.
On the question of who owned the copyright to the letter, a decision was initially left open.
Because it was unclear to what extent high-ranking helpers in the royal family had been involved in the letter.
"The Crown" should have a right to copyright
Associated Newspapers argued that Duchess Meghan intended the contents of the letter to become public.
That was part of a media strategy, because communications secretary Jason Knauf had worked on electronic drafts.
That means that both he and "the crown" could have a claim to copyright.
However, at a hearing at the High Court in London on Wednesday, the judge ruled in favor of Meghan.
Her lawyers said that Knauf had confirmed through his lawyers that he did not write the letter and never claimed to have done so.
"In the opinion of our client, it was only the letter from the Duchess," wrote the attorneys from Knauf.
The court had ordered the newspaper publisher to initially pay £ 450,000 (around 520,000 euros) for the costs of the proceedings.
On Wednesday, the judges decided that the "Mail on Sunday" would also have to bear further costs in connection with the copyright issue.
Meghan has a difficult relationship with the father Thomas Markle, who is divorced from her mother.
Thomas Markle had canceled his participation in Harry and Meghan's wedding at short notice - for health reasons, as he said.
Since then, the two have been considered quarreling.
He had passed Meghan's handwritten letter to the journalists of the Mail on Sunday himself.
At the beginning of 2020, Meghan and Harry broke away from the British royal family and announced that they would become financially independent.
They now live in California and are expecting their second child.
ptz / Reuters / AP
