OK!
publisher Northern and Shell sent out a letter of warning to picture
agencies before model Jordan’s wedding, in an attempt to prevent a
repeat of the Catherine Zeta-Jones debacle that cost them £1.5million
in legal fees.
The Richard Desmond-owned company had a £400,000
deal with bride Jordan and groom Peter Andre for exclusive rights to
take pictures at the event. It hit newspapers and paparazzi with a
letter from its legal department in advance of the event, stressing its
determination to protect the deal.
The decision follows the
wedding of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas in 2000, when OK!’s
exclusive deal with the couple was scuppered by gatecrashers who took
unauthorised pictures and sold them to rival Hello!.
The row is
still going through the courts, with the £1million initially paid in
damages by Hello! to OK! being reimbursed to Hello! after an appeal.
The letter speaks of the “good relationship”
between
Northern and Shell and the agencies, but adds: “Any publication of
unauthorised photographs of the wedding would be seriously damaging to
the commercial interests of Northern and Shell Plc. We therefore intend
taking all necessary steps to protect our rights.”
Tabloids have
used pictures of Andre and Jordan mocked up to look like a wedding
couple, and have snatched pics of the wedding furniture in advance of
the event, but are not thought to have printed any photos of the
wedding itself.
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