Lee & Thompson successfully defends Catriona Gourlay against court claim by Amy Winehouse’s father Mitchell Winehouse
L&T successfully defended Catriona Gourlay against claims by Mitchell Winehouse in relation to items which were sold at an Amy Winehouse auction. L&T partners Martyn Bailey and Frania Cooper have successfully defended Catriona Gourlay, close friend of the late singer Amy Winehouse, against claims by Mitchell Winehouse in relation to items which were sold at an Amy Winehouse auction. Following a five-day trial in December 2025, the Court d…
Long Read: Tattle has been rattled – What now after the gossip website’s operator has been revealed?
In Sands & Anor v Bond & Ors [2023] NIKB 134, the Court in Northern Ireland ordered that the operator of the notorious gossip forum, Tattle Life, pay a couple £300,000 in libel damages. This has far-reaching consequences and potentially opens the floodgates for similar actions to be brought elsewhere by other influencers/celebrities who have been aggrieved by harmful activity on online forums.
The Rise of Tattle Life
Tattle Life is a se…
L&T Dispute Resolution team delivers annual Contract Law Update Seminar
Lee & Thompson dispute resolution Partner Dominic Bray and Legal Director Frania Cooper delivered their annual Contract Law Update to over 120 clients and contacts from across the creative industries.
Dominic and Frania discussed recent cases on contractual interpretation, MOUs and HOTs, agreements to agree, mistakes, boilerplate clauses, exclusion and limitation, reserving rights and termination. Drawing on the outcomes of these cases, they…
Court success for L&T in dispute with Royal Mid Surrey Golf Club
Court success today for dispute resolution Partner Martyn Bailey and Legal Director Frania Cooper in a claim brought by client Rina Rohilla against Royal Mid Surrey Golf Club. Following a trial in February, the Judge has held that the Club’s decision to expel Ms Rohilla from the Club was a breach of contract as it was made in bad faith and in breach of natural justice. He held that Ms Rohilla be readmitted as a member of the Club and awarde…
Case Analysis: Copyright Protection in TV Formats (Rinkoff v Baby Cow Productions Ltd)
The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court has handed down a decision which provides helpful guidance in respect of the copyright protection afforded to TV formats – creatives should take note…
In Joshua Rinkoff v Baby Cow Productions Ltd [2025] EWHC 39 (IPEC), the Claimant asserted rights in the format of a TV comedy sitcom and alleged that a series produced by the Defendant infringed his copyright. Claims for copyright subsisting in TV …
Long Read: The registrability of images of human faces as trade marks to be assessed by EU grand board of appeal
Brand owners should be alive to the uncertainty that surrounds the scope of legal protection afforded to depictions of human faces and look out for guidance which is to be handed down by the European Intellectual Property Office (“EUIPO”) Grand Board of Appeal (“GBA”) in the case of R 50/2024-2, Johannes Hendricus Maria Smit / EUIPO, which should provide some much-needed clarity…
Background
In this particular case, a si…
L&T lawyers talk media insurance at Markel’s Media & Entertainment seminar
Dispute resolution partners Mike Brookes and Mark Stafford were invited to share their legal expertise at Markel Insurers’ annual Media & Entertainment seminar, where they each led a panel talk for media insurance brokers.
Both Mike’s talk, “Baby Reindeer: This is a true story?”, and Mark’s talk, “AI-generated works: A shortcut to risk?”, approached the legal aspect of Errors and Omissions (“E&…
L&T shortlisted for Managing IP’s UK Copyright Firm of the Year award
We are thrilled that Lee & Thompson has been shortlisted in the “Copyright Firm of the Year – UK” category for the Managing IP Awards (EMEA) 2025.
Partner Dominic Bray is also nominated for an award in the “Soft IP Practitioner of the Year – UK” category.
The Managing IP awards (EMEA) recognise the past year’s most complex and innovative work of leading law firms specialising in intellectual property, across…
Golf success for L&T
Dispute Resolution Partner, Martyn Bailey and Legal Director Frania Cooper have recently secured readmission to Wirral Golf Club for golf-playing client, Lesley Brett in an out of court settlement. This is the latest in a number of such claims against golf and other clubs, including Martyn Bailey’s publicly reported success in 2019 for another client who had been wrongly expelled from the prestigious Sunningdale Golf Club and was reinstated…
L&T analyses AI Training Data Cases outside the US
Partner Dominic Bray and Associate Sevine Dandan were invited to contribute to the recently published book, “The AI Revolution: the International Legal Perspective”, for IAEL (International Association of Entertainment Lawyers).
You can read a copy of this article from the book by clicking on the link below.
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