Meghan Markle Receives A Court-Ordered “Apology” From The Mail On Sunday
It looks like the copyright infringement tussle between Associated Newspapers (ANL), the publisher of The Mail on Sunday, and Meghan Markle is over, and that The Mail on Sunday has put down their shank for now. Because as ordered by the court, they have printed a front-page note admitting that they lost their copyright infringement fight against Meghan Markle. But pulling the teeth out of a concrete shark statue using a pair of half-broken rusty pliers is probably easier than getting the editors of The Mail on Sunday to type out their “apology” to Meghan. The Mail on Sunday slipped a note about the lawsuit at the bottom of yesterday’s front page, as well as a little note inside. It reminds me of the time that the mother of a boy who kept making fun of me at school forced him to apologize to me, and he reluctantly let out an “I’m sowwy” under his breath, followed by a glare that screamed, “No, you little bitch I’m not, and you’re really gonna get it now!”
In February 2019, The Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline website, published pieces of a letter that Meghan wrote to her father Thomas Markle. After threatening to sue their asses, she made good on her promise and hit ANL with a lawsuit for violating her privacy and copyright. The case never went to trial. On February 11 of this year, High Court Lord Justice Mark Warby gave Meghan Markle a win and ruled a summary judgment in her favor. At the time, Justice Warby wrote that “there is no prospect that a different judgment would be reached after a trial.” ANL appealed that decision and made it clear that they wanted the case to go to trial. But earlier this month, the Court of Appeals upheld the High Court’s decision and gave Meghan another win. ANL let us all know that they were thinking of taking their fight against Meghan all the way to the Supreme Court, but it doesn’t look like they’re going to do that anymore since they’ve held up a white flag.
ANL was ordered to publish a front-page apology to Meghan as well as a longer note inside their paper. via People:
Judge Mark Warby ordered Associated to publish a front-page apology in the Mail on Sunday. “The Duchess of Sussex wins her legal case for copyright infringement against Associated Newspapers for articles published in The Mail on Sunday and posted on Mail Online – see page 3,” his statement read.
This will be coupled by a longer “notice” inside the newspaper under the headline, “The Duchess of Sussex,” which explicitly states that the court found “Associated Newspapers infringed her (Meghan’s) copyright by publishing extracts of her handwritten letter to her father in The Mail on Sunday and in Mail Online.”
They did just that on their Boxing Day edition. Here’s their front-page note:
And on the inside of the paper, and on their website, they wrote:
Following a hearing on 19-20 January 2021, and a further hearing on 5 May 2021, the Court has given judgment for The Duchess of Sussex on her claim for copyright infringement.
The Court found that Associated Newspapers infringed her copyright by publishing extracts of her handwritten letter to her father in The Mail on Sunday and in Mail Online.
Financial remedies have been agreed. The full judgment following the 19-20 January hearing and the Court’s summary of it can be found here and here.
They put the note above a picture of Boris Johnson’s dog looking absolutely fucking exhausted from being around Boris Johnson for longer than a millisecond:
As ANL’s statement mentions, they had to pay up. They were ordered to pay 90% of Meghan’s estimated $1.88 million in legal bills.
Who knows how many people will see ANL’s court-ordered message, but there’s a chance that anyone who uses the shit can at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s mansion may see it. Because I have a feeling she’s going to wallpaper one of her 16 bathrooms with it.
Pics: Wenn.com, Twitter, Mail on Sunday via BuzzFeed