By Stephen Howard, Cathy Gordon and Jan Colley, PA News
 

Hollywood golden couple Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas today
won part of their legal battle with Hello! magazine over the publication
of unauthorised photographs of their wedding.
But although High Court judge Mr Justice Lindsay ruled Hello! breached
the couple's rights of confidence, he said they had no claim in law on
an invasion of privacy.
In response to the judgment, the Douglases issued a statement saying:
"We deeply appreciate that the court has recognised the principle that
every individual has the right to be protected from excessive and
unwanted media intrusion into their private lives."
But Hello!'s publishing director Sally Cartwright said nine out of the
13 claims against them had been thrown out.
She said: "The areas where he has found against us are, frankly,
commercial ones."
The judge had also ruled there was no law of privacy in the UK, she said.
"These rulings bear out what we have always said - that this case was
not brought about privacy but about a commercial deal: money and
control."
Mr Justice Lindsay said that unless the parties agreed, there would be a
further hearing to determine the amount for which Hello! is liable to
the couple and OK! magazine, which had signed a £1 million deal for
exclusive coverage of the wedding in New York in November 2000.
During the six-week hearing of one of the most publicised cases heard at
the High Court in London, which has cost more than £3 million in legal
fees, Zeta Jones, 33, told how she had felt "devastated, shocked and
appalled" when she realised that paparazzi had gatecrashed her wedding
at the Plaza Hotel in New York in November 2000.
She and her 58-year-old husband had signed the deal with OK! magazine
after turning down a higher offer from Hello!
Zeta Jones said she felt "violated" when Hello! published the
unauthorised photographs, which she claimed were "sleazy and
unflattering".
Although the couple are claiming £500,000 and OK! £1.75 million, Mr
Justice Lindsay ruled out exemplary or aggravated damages.
The Marquesa De Varela, the celebrity fixer employed by Hello! who was
also sued by the Douglases, was found not to be liable in damages.
In a statement, Hello! particularly welcomed Mr Justice Lindsay's ruling
that the couple had no claim in law on invasion of privacy.
Ms Cartwright said putting out 'spoilers' to ruin another magazine's
exclusive was commonplace in the industry.
She cited an occasion in which OK! published unauthorised pictures of
Gloria Hunniford's wedding ahead of an Hello! exclusive.
"Yes, we were upset at the time, but it never occurred to us to sue them
-this is the way the printed press operates, and always has been," she
said.
Hello! now plan to appeal against the court's ruling that the contract
which existed between the Douglases and OK! was similar to a trade
secret.
That ruling could force celebrity magazines to change the way they
operated, Ms Cartwright said.
"OK! may well come to regret ever having brought this case as, if a
contract for a celebrity wedding has indeed the status legally of a
trade secret, OK! too will have to change its ways," she said.