Masterclass 15: Law essential update

Law textbooks go out of date fast

One area the law is moving too fast for those textbooks is that of privacy.

This video introduces an essential update on this aspect of the law, and flags up the areas covered in the links that subscribers will see on the navigation on the right.

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Every few days there is a new case where a famous person takes action against what they claim is an invasion of their privacy: a footballer’s affairs, a politician’s sexual orientation.

With each case, and the decision of the judge involved, case law is developed and refined. And as, in this area, it’s case law that forms the basis of what we can and can’t say about someone, and what constitutes an invasion of privacy, we as journalists need to be up to speed on what those decisions are, and what they mean for us.

You’ll also often see, around those actions for invasion of privacy, claims for beach of the data protection act, and for breach of confidence.

It can be very hard to know where you stand.

• What can and can’t you say about the private life of a public figure?

• What factors must you take into account?

• What does the law even mean?

To answer those questions I went to the very prominent and experienced media lawyer Duncan Lamont. Duncan specialises in libel, copyright, contempt of court and confidentiality (privacy) issues.

He’s been in-house lawyer at the Mirror and he’s the co-author of the Media Law textbook.

In the clips and quotes in this masterclass, which will go live in daily installments over the next week, you’ll get a clear explanation of where the law is at, and what you must do to stay safe in your reporting.

I also got Duncan’s advice on other developing legal matters, such as whether you need release forms when interviewing both the famous and the non-famous.

And I asked him about contempt of court legislation. The rules on what you can and can’t say when someone is arrested, or a warrant is issued for that arrest, are clear. So why are they so often flouted? And when is it safe to flout them?

And we finish off with Duncan’s view on the developing defence in a libel action of reportage – the fair, unbiased reporting of events -  and the courts’ view of libel actions that arise from what we’d consider was just us doing our jobs - honestly and fairly.

Next: Introducing Duncan Lamont