OK! feels the Heat as spat over interview gets serious

The IPKat is again indebted to Birgit Clark for forwarding this link, on Guardian Unlimited, to news of a copyright dispute between two publications which the IPKat rarely reads. According to this item, in relevant part:

"... Northern & Shell, the owner of OK! magazine, is suing rival celebrity magazine Heat, claiming copyright infringement over an exclusive interview with Britney Spears' pregnant sister.

Northern & Shell said Heat had quoted extensively from the OK! interview, in which 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears revealed she was going to have a baby.

Heat, owned by Emap and in the process of being sold to German group H Bauer, did not credit OK! as the source of the quotes and even claimed its story was exclusive, according to Northern & Shell.

...

"OK! magazine has established its reputation in the UK, the USA and throughout the world by the relationship of trust it builds with celebrities," said OK!'s group editorial director, Paul Ashford.
"We take pride in handling their stories and pictures in a positive and responsible way. We go to all possible lengths within the law to protect these exclusives and safeguard the interests of the celebrities and of our own readers."

...

This is not the first time OK! has taken action to protect the value of its exclusives.

The magazine was embroiled in a seven-year legal battle with Hello! magazine over photos taken at the wedding of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas.

Last year the House of Lords ruled OK! suffered a breach of confidence when Hello! used clandestine pictures of the ceremony in New York in November 2000, but lost its claim that it suffered economic harm from the rival celebrity magazine's spoiler edition".

The IPKat is greatly comforted to know that a magazine such as OK! goes to such a great effort "to ... safeguard the interests of the celebrities and of [its] own readers". He's perplexed, though to know exactly what these safeguards are. Could it be that the best way to safeguard the interests of a pregnant 16 year old who has been caught in the sudden glare of publicity is to draw as little attention as possible to her until she is mature enough to handle life's responsibilities? Merpel says, but this sort of interview will safeguard her financial interests, surely?

Stop press: Jamie Lynn dumped by putative father here