Meghan Markle Wins Copyright Claim To Her Letter To Estranged Father

Meghan Markle wins copyright claim against the British newspaper The Mail on Sunday over the publication of her letter to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.

In February, the Duchess of Sussex won most of her claim for misuse of private information and copyright infringement. The court had granted Markle summary judgement, which meant she won most of her case without going to trial. The court still had to settle who owned the copyright.

Lord Justice Warby described the publication of Markle’s letter as “manifestly excessive and hence unlawful”. Warby also added that it was “A personal and private letter”.

Lawyers acting on behalf of Queen Elizabeth stated that they “did not consider the Crown to be the copyright owner”. The judge ruled that Markle owned the copyright to the letter she wrote to her father, not the Crown.

The publisher of the Mail on Sunday, Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) had claimed that Markle’s former communications secretary Jason Knauf co-authored the letter. Thus, the copyright belonged to the Crown. Knauf’s lawyers confirmed that he did not co-author the letter. His lawyers said that “In our client's view, it was the duchess's letter alone.” The lawyers stated that Knauf had only provided Markle with consultation and was not a co-author.

Meghan Markle wins copyright claim after suing the publisher ANL over several articles which published parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle. She claimed that the five articles misused her private information, infringed her copyright, and breached the Data Protection Act.

In March, the publisher ANL was ordered to print a statement on the front page of The Mail on Sunday and a notice on page three. The Mail on Sunday had to publish that it “infringed her copyright” when parts of her private letter to her father were published.

The statement about the infringement on copyright was put on hold, to allow ANL time to seek permission to appeal.