JK Rowling wins privacy ruling

2008-05-07 14:07

London - Harry Potter author JK Rowling welcomed on Wednesday a privacy ruling supporting a ban on publication of covertly-taken pictures of her young son.

Appeal judges overturned a High Court ruling last year which rejected the multi-millionaire author's bid to prevent publication of a long-lense picture taken by celebrity photo agency Big Pictures.

In his ruling top judge Sir Anthony Clarke said: "If a child of parents who are not in the public eye could reasonably expect not to have photographs of him published in the media, so too should the child of a famous parent."

Reacting to the judgment Rowling and her husband, Neil Murray, said it would give their children protection from "covert, unauthorised photography" and make an "immediate and material difference to their lives".

"We embarked on this lawsuit not because we were seeking special privileges for our children but because we wanted them to grow up, like their friends, free from unwarranted intrusion into their privacy," they said.

Landmark ruling

The colour photo, printed by the Sunday Express magazine in 2005, showed Rowling walking in an Edinburgh street with her husband and then 18-month-old son David in a buggy. Their son is now five years old.

Solicitors Schillings called the ruling a "landmark decision," saying it marked a "dramatic shift" in the balance between rights to privacy and freedom of expression of the media.

Rowling and her husband added: "We understand and accept that with the success of Harry Potter there will be a measure of legitimate media and public interest in Jo's professional activities and appearances.

"However, we have striven to give our children a normal family life outside the media spotlight."

Rowling's stories of boy wizard Harry Potter have sold almost 350 million copies around the world in some 65 languages.

- AFP