photos and descriptions of a celebrity couple’s private wedding; there was no violation concerning the couple’s right to privacy under Article 8 of the ECHR. Even though the wedding was a private event, the fact that weddings have a public component and that no deliberately private facts were unlawfully made public, tipped the balance away from the couple’s Article 8 right and in favor of the magazine’s Article 10 right to freedom of expression. More info here. In the case of MGN Limited v. United Kingdom (2011), the Fourth Section of the ECtHR found that a restriction on the publication of private information did not violate the publisher’s Article 10 The novel, titled Mephisto, rights. However, excessive success fees as costs for tells the fictional story of liability were a violation of Article 10. The applicant Hendrik Höfgen, a talented was the publisher of UK’s national daily newspaper, the Daily Mirror. The paper published several articles actor who colludes with the regarding Ms. Naomi Campbell’s drug addiction. The Nazi powers to advance articles provided details of the addiction and treatment, his career [...] Gründgens’ and two photographs of Ms. Campbell waiting outside the place of treatment. In a 6:1 decision, the Court adoptive son, Peter Gorski, found that disclosing that Ms. Campbell was a drug brought proceedings addict in treatment was in the public interest because against the publishing Ms. Campbell had previously publicly denied drug use. However, additional details of her method of treatment house Nymphenburger and the two photographs were not in public interest Verlagshandlung, seeking and violated Ms. Campbell’s right to privacy. As part to prevent the publication of of a conditional fee agreement, the applicant was required to pay 95% and 100% of the costs in the House Mephisto in West Germany. of Lords as success fees to the solicitors involved. The Court held that the success fees were a disproportionate interference with the applicant’s right to free speech because it could have a chilling effect on media organizations, discouraging them from publishing legitimate information and encouraging them to settle claims instead of defending them. More info here. In the case of Ricci v. Italy (2013), the Second Section of the EctHR considered that Italy violated Article 10 of the ECHR when it upheld a television producer’s conviction for showing images from an illicitly taped video interview featuring philosopher Gianni Vattimo. The court acknowledged the producer’s conduct was prescribed by Italian law, and legitimately justified under Article 10(2) of the ECHR, but held that the punishment – a €30,000 fine and a four-month term of imprisonment – was disproportionate to the producer’s conduct. More info here. Germany: In The Case of Mephisto (1971), the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany upheld a lower court decision granting an injunction that banned a novel from being published in West Germany. The novel, titled Mephisto, tells the fictional story of Hendrik Höfgen, a talented actor who colludes with the Nazi powers to advance his career. The titular character of the novel