Daily Mail has published other images of Weller and his twins that do not appear to be part of the lawsuit. ( Credit: MaxPictures via Daily Mail)
British singer Paul Weller is suing the UK Mail Online for invasion of privacy because the Mail published photos of his wife and children, Press Gazette reported.
The images showed Weller, his wife, his 16-year-old daughter and twin 10-month-old sons shopping in Santa Monica, California. Weller was the lead singer of The Jam and The Style Council bands and is a prolific solo recording artist, according to the Guardian.
The photos were published Oct. 21, 2012 and have since been taken down, the UK Press Gazette reported. The number of photos in question is either six or seven — news outlets are reporting conflicting numbers.
The lawsuit, filed last year, claimed: “The photographs are plainly voyeuristic, seeking to intrude upon the claimants’ private lives, and in particular cherished moments which they are sharing with their father and each other, and which are an integral part of their development.”
According to the Press Gazette, Weller’s lawyer David Sherborne stated that the family tries to maintain its privacy. Further, the family asked the paparazzi photographer who took the pictures to stop taking the pictures when they saw the photographer but that request was ignored, he said.
In court this week, Weller was challenged on the issue of how private his family was.
For example, Weller argued there is a difference between talking about his family in interviews and having the photographers publish photos of the children.
“My preference would be just to talk about my music but I can also see that would be a very dull interview. It’s just chit-chat. There’s a big difference between that and someone following you around and taking photos of babies. That’s a distinction that needs to be made,” he said, according to the Belfast Telegraph.
Another point brought up in court was the fact that Weller’s wife has posted photographs of her family online.
Singer’s family loves privacy, but still publicly tweeted highly personal baby bump pic. (Credit: Hannah Weller’s Twitter account, via Daily Mail)
Weller said that his wife has posted photos of the children on her social media accounts, but she doesn’t show their faces, the Belfast Telegraph reported. He added that she doesn’t financially profit from the photos either, whereas the newspapers do.
Weller has asked for “at least £45,000 privacy damages” and an injunction, according to the Belfast Telegraph.
Weller’s legal representatives declined to comment to iMediaEthics.
iMediaEthics has written to the Mail for comment. We’ll update with any additional information.
UPDATED: 3/29/2014 1:11 PM EST Added baby bump photo
