Loss of Confidentiality prevents grant of an Injunction - The BBC fails against "The Stig"
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The BBC has been refused an application by the UK High Court for an interim injunction against Ben Collins, his publishers and service company in connection with the publication of Collins’ autobiography revealing the identity of “The Stig” in the BBC’s Top Gear television show.
Collins played the part of “The Stig” from 2003 until the summer of 2010. In 2009, he engaged in discussions with HarperCollins Ltd to discuss the publication of his autobiography. Collins told the producer of Top Gear in July 2010 that he was thinking about writing a book and was considering leaving the programme. The BBC issued proceedings, seeking in particular an interim injunction restraining the defendants from disclosing certain information. It was alleged that publication of the autobiography would be, amongst other things, in breach of Collins’ equitable duty of confidence to the BBC which prevented him from revealing his identity as “The Stig”.
The Court refused to grant an interim injunction on various grounds. The main point being that the BBC could not rely on breach of confidentiality on the basis that the identity of “The Stig”, due to several press reports, had become so generally accessible that it had lost its confidential character by the time of the BBC’s application. Unfortunately for the BBC, the huge public interest created as a consequence of the anonymity of “The Stig” arguably perpetuated the media frenzy surrounding this character which led to his identification and ultimately the BBC’s loss of confidentiality.
This case confirms that the UK courts will not grant an injunction to prevent a person from disclosing information that has ceased to be confidential even if that person has benefitted from a past breach of an equitable duty of confidence. It will be interesting to see whether the BBC pursues the defendants in respect of breach of contract, and/or any other claims and damages.
