Meghan Markle scores victory in a copyright infringement case

A major victory has paved its way for Meghan Markle recently. This victory is an outcome of her lengthy court battle against the publishers of a tabloid. The case dealt with privacy and copyright infringement that was filed in the Court of Appeal in London. However, the court ruled in favor of the Duchess of Sussex and against the publisher of the Mail. This case was started when publishers printed parts of a private letter that Meghan wrote to her father. 

Markle released an official statement after her victory where she stated that this victory does not belong to her alone. As reported by People, she further added, "While this win is precedent-setting, what matters most is that we are now collectively brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that conditions people to be cruel, and profits from the lies and pain that they create."  The Duchess of Sussex further also added, "In the nearly three years since this began, I have been patient in the face of deception, intimidation, and calculated attacks."

The original ruling stated that the Mail (the tabloid) undoubtedly had breached Meghan's privacy as they published some parts of a handwritten letter that she sent to her father, Thomas Markle, in five different articles that were published in February 2019. The ruling further stated that the Mail had also infringed on Meghan's copyright by publishing extracts of her letter, which was written by the Duchess of Sussex for her father with love after her royal wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018.

Since the Duchess has scored a win, in this case, it will now be returned to the High Court for determination of damages. Finally, this favorable ruling has put a full stop to the three-year-long legal proceedings. This case will now help in understanding that a person holds the copyright on every part of a letter that he/she writes, which cannot be published without taking prior permission from the author.