ECJ rules UK publisher can be sued in French court
The Mirror Group (publisher of the Sunday Mirror) has lost its
legal battle in the ECJ relating to the jurisdiction of a French
court to hear a privacy claim against an English company who
published the article on a UK website in English.
Actor, Olivier Martinez successfully brought a claim in France
against the Mirror Group in 2008 for an article published on its UK
website about Mr Martinez's relationship with singer Kylie Minogue.
The Mirror Group appealed the judgment on the grounds that the
French court did not have jurisdiction to hear a case involving the
alleged privacy infringement of an English company of an article
written in English and posted on a UK hosted website.
The ECJ has held that the French court did have jurisdiction to
hear the case and that European publishers can be sued in any
member state for articles published on the internet. The ECJ
further stated that a claimant can choose to bring a claim in their
country of residence or the country where they have their centre of
interests and not just in the country where the defendant is
resident or the infringement occurred.
The ECJ justified its decision by making reference to the
international reach of an article published on the internet and
adding that this international reach also increases the seriousness
of any infringement.
The ECJ did however note that under the EU e-commerce directive,
a publisher of an internet article should not be subject to
"stricter requirements" relating to "personality rights" than it
would face in its own country.
comment
This is an important decision for EU privacy law as it
illustrates that an infringement of privacy can have transnational
legal consequences. Publishers should take note that they can be
held to account in the court of any member state for an article
published on the internet, regardless of where that article is in
fact published. It also illustrates that when it comes to
determining damages the court will take the view that an article
published on the internet is likely to do more damage than an
article solely published in a national newspaper, due to the
international reach and ease of access of the internet.
