Profit from Violation of Privacy through the European Tabloid Press
| Author | Tilman Hoppe |
| Published date | 01 March 1999 |
| Date | 01 March 1999 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X9900600105 |
TilmanHoppe
ProfitfromViolationofPrivacythroughtheEuropean
TabloidPress
§ 1.Introduction
‘[0]nemanshouldnotbe
allowedtosellanother
man’sreputationforprofit’1
Manyofthe landmark decisions concerningprotectionofprivacy stemfromactions of
prominentpeoplefightingthe commercial exploitation oftheirprivacybythetabloid
press. Examples include theSorayacasesbeforethe Bundesverfassungsgericht2in1973
and beforethe CortediCassazione3in1975, aswell asthecasesconcerning Caroline
ofMonaco before theTribunaldeGrandeInstanceParis4in1977, and theBundes
gerichtshof5in1994and 1995. Thereports inquestion mostly consist ofpaparazzi6
*Academic Assistant, Humboldt-Universität zuBerlin. Theauthor wishes toexpresshis sincere gratitude
to Prof. PeterBirks and the network‘CommonPrinciples ofEuropeanPrivate Law (Training and
Mobility ofResearchers) ’sponsored bythe Commission oftheEuropeanCommunities and coordinated
byProf. Reiner Schulze, for making itpossible for himto spend time at All Souls, Oxford. The
following universities participate in the network: Barcelona, Berlin (Humboldt), LyonIII, Münster,
Nijmegen, Oxford and Turin. The authoralsoexpresses thanks toProf.Axel Flessnerand toDr.
ThomasKadner,whoinspired thisproject,toProf. Mads Andenas and also tothe graduates ofSt.
Anne’sCollege, Oxford. The article ispublished inGerman inZeitschriftfiirEuropäischesPrivatrecht
(1999),No. 4.
1.Rookesv.Barnard[1964]A.C. 1129,at 1227(perLordDevlin).
2. BVerfG, February14, 1973,26 NeueJuristischeWochenschrift(1973), 1221- Soraya.
3. Cass., May 27,1975, n.2129, Giustizia civile (1975), I,1686, 1696.
4. Trib.gr. inst. Paris, June 2,May 26, 1976,RecueilDalloz(1977), jurisprudence,364, notedby
Raymond Lindon.
5. BGH, 48NeueJuristischeWochenschrift(1995), 861- MonacoI;BGH, 49NeueJuristische
Wochenschrift1996,985-MonacoIP,BGH, 49NeueJuristischeWochenschrift(1996), 1228-Monaco
IV.
6MJ1(1999)75
Profit fromViolation ofPrivacy throughthe EuropeanTabloid Press
picturesorfabricated ‘exclusive’interviews. Thepress may make profitsinthe
hundredsofthousands ofpounds throughcommercializing such ‘sensations’.Ifthe
rightsofthepersonaffectedare violated, thepress gains profitsathisexpense. Itcan
beobservedthatEuropean courtsconsider the profitsofthe press intheirdecisions and
givethese profitstotheplaintiffsinone wayorother.
§ 2.TheProblemofProfit-making
Sincethefirstgossip magazines came outat theend ofthe19thcentury, thiskind of
media hasbecome amulti-million-dollarindustry.Theyellow press, which includes for
example theSunand the DailyMirror(England), Bunteand Gala(Germany), Paris
Matchand IdParis(France), Chi(Italy) and Holal(Spain), presents thesensations of
celebrities’privatelives toareadership ofmillions. Thewish ofthereaders toidentify
withthefateofthesemoreorlessmythical stars creates thedemand forsuch stories.
Fromthetimeoftheirreading they borrowexperiencesfromafictitious world7to
satisfy adesireto livevicariouslythrough the icon: ‘Princess Soraya: theEmperordid
notwritetomeany more’.8
A.TheMarketofCelebrities
‘Gossip[...]hasbecomeatrade’9
Thecult ofcelebrity inthemedia may be asold astheindustrial revolution.10When
peopleleft theirsmall towns and moved to anonymouscities towork,perhapsthey
retained theiryearningforpersonal identification thatcomesthroughgossiping about
otherpeople’sprivatelives. Itcould be inresponse tothis thatnewspapers created the
‘professionalbeauties’:societymembers who werefamous forbeing famous and
photographing well.11At the same time, the adoration ofcelebrities alsohelpedto
6.-»
6.‘Afree-lance photographerwho pursuescelebrities to take their pictures’,TheOxfordEnglish
Dictionary,(Oxford University Press,2ndedition, 1989). Theword isderivedfroma figurein
FedericoFellini’s film ‘LaDolceVita'of1960.
7.See H. Wagner‘Von derLust, in andere Weltenzuwandern. Unterhaltung - sozialer Unterhalt’,in
L. Bosshart & W. Hoffmann-Riem(ed.), MedienlustandMediennutz- Unterhaltungalsöffentliche
Komunikation,(Ölschläger, 1994), 126; H.Tannenbaum, ‘Entertainmentas vicarious emotional
experience’,in Tannenbaum(ed.), Theentertainmentfunctionsoftelevision,(Hillsdale 1980), 107.
Kepplinger/Weiflbecker call it‘borrowedexperiences’,9Medienpsychologie(1997), 57.
8. See BGH, December 8,1964,18NeueJuristischeWochenschrift(1965),685 - Soraya.
9. Warren/Brandeis, ‘TheRight ofPrivacy’,4HarvardLawReview(1890), 193, at196:‘Thepress
is overstepping in every direction theobvious bounds ofproprietyand ofdecency. Gossip isnolonger
the resource ofthe idle andofthe vicious, but hasbecome a trade whichispersuedwith industry as
well as affrontery.’
10. B.Seemann,ProminenzalsEigentum,(Nomos, 1996), 33
11. InternationalHeraldTribuneofSept. 5, 1997, 8(‘New YorkTimes Service’).
766 MJ1(1999)
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