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Yesterday the High Court refused to ban a book which would have revealed its author as ‘The Stig’ who, apparently, is the secret racer of a variety of cars featured on the Top Gear programme.
The BBC sought an injunction blocking publication of the man’s autobiography on the grounds that it breached a confidentiality agreement he had entered into when he took up the position of The Stig in 2003 and that revealing who he is would spoil viewers’ enjoyment of the programme. The publishers of the book argued that the BBC were preventing freedom of expression and that, in any event, the identity of the man was already in the public domain.
The High Court refused to grant a temporary injunction blocking publication of the biography, and the result is that every morning newspaper gives the man’s name and abundant publicity to his book which will be published in two week’s time.
Outside the court, the publishers queried why the BBC would want to spend taxpayers money on such an action and I agree with this view.
More importantly, does anyone really care who The Stig is?
.
Yesterday the High Court refused to ban a book which would have revealed its author as ‘The Stig’ who, apparently, is the secret racer of a variety of cars featured on the Top Gear programme.
The BBC sought an injunction blocking publication of the man’s autobiography on the grounds that it breached a confidentiality agreement he had entered into when he took up the position of The Stig in 2003 and that revealing who he is would spoil viewers’ enjoyment of the programme. The publishers of the book argued that the BBC were preventing freedom of expression and that, in any event, the identity of the man was already in the public domain.
The High Court refused to grant a temporary injunction blocking publication of the biography, and the result is that every morning newspaper gives the man’s name and abundant publicity to his book which will be published in two week’s time.
Outside the court, the publishers queried why the BBC would want to spend taxpayers money on such an action and I agree with this view.
More importantly, does anyone really care who The Stig is?
.
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