In a recent case, the French “Tribunal de Grande Instance” rendered a decision in favor of the internationally renowned star Leonardo di Caprio regarding his right to privacy.
The French “OOPS magazine” had published in May 2015 an article on the alleged relationship between the actor Leonardo DiCaprio and the singer Rihanna (who according to the article, is pregnant). This information was presented on the front cover of the magazine as a « SCOOP OOPS!” with a photomontage of the celebrities standing both side by side. The front cover of this magazine was reproduced on posters and the magazine was published during the Cannes Film Festival to which Leonardo di Caprio went.
The actor sued the magazine through summary proceedings before the French Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris, claiming an infringement of his privacy and his image rights, both protected by Article 9 of the French Civil Code. According to the actor, this publication was « intrusive and sensationalist » and was also presenting him in a very unflattering way. The magazine argued that the « world famous star » could not argue the violation of his privacy, because he “frequently discloses his relations », that « his relationship with Rihanna is notorious » and that the photographs used for the front cover and for the article were innocuous and had been taken either in official circumstances, either in the streets or in public places.
Despite this argumentation, on July 27, 2015, the French Court ruled that Leonardo di Caprio had been prejudiced because of the publication of the magazine. The judge condemned the OOPS magazine to pay the actor a provision of 8,000 euros for moral damages resulting from infringement of his privacy and his right to the image, and also ordered the magazine to publish a statement on the front cover of its next issue to inform the public of its conviction.
The French jurisdication recalled that Article 9 of the French Civil Code and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) both protect privacy and that « everyone, no matter how famous he may be, has the right to respect for his private life and is entitled to obtain protection by determining himself which information may be disclosed in the press” and that he also has a right for his image.
Furthermore, this decision is interesting because the French judge recalled that the right to privacy and image must be balanced with the right to freedom of expression. Under certain circumstances, the right to respect for private life and image may yield to the freedom of information when such information is likely to enter the field of legitimate public interest.
According to the French judge, the disclosure of innocuous information to the public does not constitute a breach to the right to respect for private life. In the present matter, the Court distinguished two kinds of information, (i) the alleged relation between the celebrities and (ii) the alleged pregnancy of Rihanna. If the first information had already been discussed by the media, the second, presented by OOPS magazine as a scoop, was in fact inaccurate. That’s why the French judge decided that there was a violation of privacy: the magazine had presented this pregnancy and Leonardo di Caprio’s paternity as a proven fact. According to the judge, because of the particularly intimate nature of such disclosure and of the absence of any evidence to accredit the accuracy of the facts alleged, the invasion of private life was perfectly characterized.
To conclude, it is very interesting to note that unlike US law (where public figures almost don’t have any protection for their private life), European and French law provide specific dispositions aiming to protect the privacy of these celebrities inside the UE borders. In this respect, the European Union can be an interesting region for celebrities to exercise their right to respect for private life and evidence the fact that they deserve the same rights as any other people.
Marianne Lecron
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