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One Direction lawyers cite privacy and copyright issues with leaked video

By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 2 June 2014

Reps for One Direction have reportedly threatened legal action against Mail Online over the website’s ‘pop punks’ Peruvian pot puff’ exclusive from last week.

As previously reported, 1D boys Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik were last week seen and heard in a video, seemingly recorded on the former’s phone, smoking and discussing smoking cannabis, and possibly using a racial slur in the process.

The video, first posted by the Mail, initiated plenty of online chatter, and some outrage, though most of it from Daily Mail journalists. 1DHQ declined to comment as the story broke, instead announcing that they were handing the matter to their lawyers, which is always a questionable move in PR terms.

Though, to be fair, there is a legal case to answer if the allegation that the video was “stolen” from Tomlinson’s phone is true. According to the Press Gazette, law firm Lee & Thompson has written to the Mail and other news organisations stating that distribution of the video amounts to both an invasion of privacy (because the conversation happened in a private vehicle) and copyright infringement (because Tomlinson owns the copyright).

The legal letter reads: “This video is a private ‘home’ video (filmed in a private vehicle) which has been stolen and the copyright in which is owned by our client Louis Tomlinson. Any publication of the video is unauthorised and unlawful and legal steps are being taken against the parties involved”.

Though pragmatic tweets posted over the weekend by 1D member Liam Payne might do more to kill the story. The first to address the ‘scandal’ head on, Payne tweeted: “I love my boys and maybe things have gone a little sideways, I apologise for that. We are only in our 20s we all do stupid things at this age”.

He added: “We all have a lot of growing up to do in an extreme circumstance, I’m not making excuse but it’s fact we are gunna fall short somewhere”, and “Thank you to everyone who has stuck with us through this, just know that we love you guys for it and it means the world”.

Elsewhere in 1D v Fleet Street, the Daily Star thought it had its own exclusive scandal about the boy band on Friday, with its first edition running with the headline “1D Harry x-rated sex pic shame”, accompanied by a half-censored photo dubbed as an “explicit selfie image of Harry Styles”.

Though unfortunately the photo had been confirmed as a fake before the Star had even finished printing the edition, with later versions of the paper running with the headline “1D Harry fury at faked sex pic – internet hoaxers target hunky star”, minus the offending photo. Though given that pop stars have to contend with “faked sex pics” of themselves appearing online pretty much every day, presumably Styles wasn’t any more furious on Friday than any other day.

The Media Blog documents the non-story front page here.