Max Mosley, head of Formula One auto racing's ruling body, was awarded a record 60,000 pounds ($119,000) in a privacy case against a U.K. newspaper that said a videotaped sex party Mosley participated in had a Nazi theme.
Justice David Eady in London ruled that News Corp.'s News of the World newspaper violated Mosley's privacy. The conduct in the video was ``between consenting adults'' and there was no evidence it ``was intended to be an enactment of Nazi behavior,'' Eady said.
Mosley, 68, sued the newspaper for reporting he and the five women in the video dressed as Nazi concentration camp guards and prisoners. He said at the trial that while the video included use of the German language and sadomasochistic acts, there were no Nazi overtones. The video, secretly filmed by one of the women, was distributed on the newspaper's Web site.
``No amount of damages can fully compensate the claimant for the damage done,'' Eady said at a hearing today. ``He is hardly exaggerating when he says that his life was ruined.''
Mosley was also awarded 450,000 pounds to cover legal costs. He argued that the story was an intrusion of privacy that violated rights protected by U.K. law. The award was a record for a U.K privacy case, dwarfing the 5,000 pounds granted Canadian folk singer Loreena McKennitt who sued a friend over a book publication, according to Niri Shan, head media lawyer at London-based firm Taylor Wessing LLP.
`Serious Impropriety'
The verdict ``confirmed the worst fears of the media -- that you really can't publish stories about people's sex lives, even if they fulfill some sort of public role, unless you can show a very strong public interest justification,'' said Shan, who wasn't involved in the case.
The newspaper believed publication of the story ``was legitimate and lawful'' and ``justified by the public interest in exposing'' a ``serious impropriety,'' said Colin Myler, News of the World's editor, in a statement.
Mark Warby, the newspaper's lawyer, said in court today that his client had won a partial victory because exemplary damages weren't awarded, which are typically used as punishment.
Mosley's lawyer argued that the story was an intrusion unconnected to his job as Formula One head, made worse by the newspaper's implication that Mosley mocked how Jewish prisoners were treated by guards.
Mosley's father, Oswald Mosley, founded the British Union of Fascists in 1932.
`Complete Invention'
The judgment ``was devastating for the News of the World,'' Mosley said after the verdict. ``It demonstrates that their Nazi lie was a complete invention.''
Eady said he didn't consider it a ``landmark'' decision and that his ruling shouldn't inhibit investigative journalism.
The decision applied privacy principles that English courts have been developing for years, said Jennifer McDermott, a media partner at the Withers LLP law firm in London.
``Real matters of public interest will continue to be published,'' said McDermott, who wasn't involved in the case. ``In this case there was no general interest at all once the Nazi orgy theme wasn't made out.''
Four of the women in the video, who weren't identified at the trial, denied it had Nazi overtones. Witness B, a German speaker, appeared in the video wearing a Luftwaffe jacket and suspenders. She said it was ``an insult'' that the newspaper equated ``German'' with ``Nazi.''
``There was bondage, beating and domination which seems to be typical of S & M,'' Eady said in the ruling. ``But there was no public interest or other justification for the clandestine recording, for the publication of the resulting information and still photographs, or for the placing of the video extract on the News of the World Web site.''
The International Automobile Federation, Formula One's ruling body known as FIA, last month voted to allow Mosley to continue to oversee the organization after the video was made public. Mosley's term ends in October 2009.
Justice David Eady in London ruled that News Corp.'s News of the World newspaper violated Mosley's privacy. The conduct in the video was ``between consenting adults'' and there was no evidence it ``was intended to be an enactment of Nazi behavior,'' Eady said.
Mosley, 68, sued the newspaper for reporting he and the five women in the video dressed as Nazi concentration camp guards and prisoners. He said at the trial that while the video included use of the German language and sadomasochistic acts, there were no Nazi overtones. The video, secretly filmed by one of the women, was distributed on the newspaper's Web site.
``No amount of damages can fully compensate the claimant for the damage done,'' Eady said at a hearing today. ``He is hardly exaggerating when he says that his life was ruined.''
Mosley was also awarded 450,000 pounds to cover legal costs. He argued that the story was an intrusion of privacy that violated rights protected by U.K. law. The award was a record for a U.K privacy case, dwarfing the 5,000 pounds granted Canadian folk singer Loreena McKennitt who sued a friend over a book publication, according to Niri Shan, head media lawyer at London-based firm Taylor Wessing LLP.
`Serious Impropriety'
The verdict ``confirmed the worst fears of the media -- that you really can't publish stories about people's sex lives, even if they fulfill some sort of public role, unless you can show a very strong public interest justification,'' said Shan, who wasn't involved in the case.
The newspaper believed publication of the story ``was legitimate and lawful'' and ``justified by the public interest in exposing'' a ``serious impropriety,'' said Colin Myler, News of the World's editor, in a statement.
Mark Warby, the newspaper's lawyer, said in court today that his client had won a partial victory because exemplary damages weren't awarded, which are typically used as punishment.
Mosley's lawyer argued that the story was an intrusion unconnected to his job as Formula One head, made worse by the newspaper's implication that Mosley mocked how Jewish prisoners were treated by guards.
Mosley's father, Oswald Mosley, founded the British Union of Fascists in 1932.
`Complete Invention'
The judgment ``was devastating for the News of the World,'' Mosley said after the verdict. ``It demonstrates that their Nazi lie was a complete invention.''
Eady said he didn't consider it a ``landmark'' decision and that his ruling shouldn't inhibit investigative journalism.
The decision applied privacy principles that English courts have been developing for years, said Jennifer McDermott, a media partner at the Withers LLP law firm in London.
``Real matters of public interest will continue to be published,'' said McDermott, who wasn't involved in the case. ``In this case there was no general interest at all once the Nazi orgy theme wasn't made out.''
Four of the women in the video, who weren't identified at the trial, denied it had Nazi overtones. Witness B, a German speaker, appeared in the video wearing a Luftwaffe jacket and suspenders. She said it was ``an insult'' that the newspaper equated ``German'' with ``Nazi.''
``There was bondage, beating and domination which seems to be typical of S & M,'' Eady said in the ruling. ``But there was no public interest or other justification for the clandestine recording, for the publication of the resulting information and still photographs, or for the placing of the video extract on the News of the World Web site.''
The International Automobile Federation, Formula One's ruling body known as FIA, last month voted to allow Mosley to continue to oversee the organization after the video was made public. Mosley's term ends in October 2009.