Community Chat

[faeriemoon]

I think, no matter if you like H&M or not, it is despicable that her father sold a letter written by his daughter to him to a tabloid.  Even if you defended him before, this is a whole new ballgame.

[bathina]

More tabloid ridiculousness. Her "friend" stopped talking to her because she didnt approve of the way Meghan broke off with her ex? Ok.

[Mj12]

---

@faeriemoon wrote:

I think, no matter if you like H&M or not, it is despicable that her father sold a letter written by his daughter to him to a tabloid.  Even if you defended him before, this is a whole new ballgame.

---

ITA. And I can't imagine anyone is surprised he sold it. Of course he did. He's sold every scrap of gossip about his daughter to the tabloids - as soon as he could. 

[seaBreeze]

1. Abolish the monarchy.

2. Harry--stay in Africa with your wife since you wanted out of the limelight anyway.

3. Let's worry about our own country people~!

[Marp]

Regarding ownership of the letter consider it falls under British law not U.S. law.   Excerpts from:  msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/meghan-markle-letter-what-the-law-says-about-copyright-public-interest-and-privacy/ar-AAId016

A spokesman for the newspaper said: “The Mail on Sunday stands by the story it published and will be defending this case vigorously. Specifically, we categorically deny that the Duchess’s letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning.”  (emphasis added).

But can private letters be protected by copyright – and if so, who owns it? Copyright protects original literary works, among other things, such as books and literature – and this also includes letters. Therefore, a letter can be protected by copyright.

Who has copyright?

Under UK copyright law, the owner of a piece of work is usually the person who created it. Once a person owns copyright in a piece of work, the law allows them to restrict others from copying or sharing that work without permission. So, the content of the letter belongs to the writer of the letter – although the actual physical letter belongs to the recipient.

This means that in order to share the content of a letter, the permission of the writer would be required in order to avoid copyright infringement.

But there are exceptions to copyright. These are circumstances where permission is not needed – for example, if the use is for the purpose of criticism, review or quotation, or for the purpose of reporting current events. Each of the copyright exceptions have specific requirements that must be followed in order to benefit from them.

The exception for criticism, review or quotation requires that the material used was already available to the public – so this would not apply to a private letter. The exception for reporting current events requires that the use of the material is fair.

When considering if a use is fair, a court would take into consideration if the work had already been published, or whether it was confidential. The courts are unlikely to decide that use of material that is confidential was fair unless a legitimate and continuing public interest could be demonstrated, for example “leaked documents” with a clear public interest.

[TY]

I believe Meghan has cut her dad off as well as her half siblings for selling their stories to the tabloid press. That is an absolute no-no in royal circles. Her dad and that side of the family is making money off of her by selling stories, photos, and doing whatever else they can think of to make a buck and embarrass her in the whatever way they can.

Her dad may own the letter but Meghan owns the copyright to the letter and that is only one of the grounds she's suing the Mail on Sunday for.

I hope she and Harry win their lawsuit. 

[Bri369]

It's despicable that he sold that letter to a tabloid. 

I hope they win their lawsuit too. 

[Trinity11]

---

@bathina wrote:
@JaneMarpleexactly! Every word is tabloid speculation, taken as gospel by some. It's no wonder we're in a mess. Some people will believe any crock set before them without regard to where the info comes from. Sad.

---

Yes but I do believe something I read..Meghan is dealing with a manipulative alcoholic father. The writing is on the wall and she is doing the best she can considering the circumstances. Her father’s abhorrent behavior is being defended in a backhanded way when posters call her a drama queen just because she refuses to allow him to air their differences in a public manner.

I see Meghan as a strong, young woman defending herself against tabloid gossip. 

[phoenixbrd]

Where is the popcorn chopping giraffe!

[Sweet_Serenity]