can a newspaper print a picture of my car showing my number plate?

[Damien]

hello a local newspaper has printed a picture of my Sports car (or as they call it a race car)
the story has nothing to do with me or my car (i think they have picked it becouse it stands out so much)


the story is about a so called bad road (very close to where i live) and they are calling it a race track with a picture of my car in slow ish 20mph trafic.

my car is very very hard to miss and i think its unfair that they seem to be saying my car is the one racing up and down ...

can they print a picture of my car and of my number plate showing ?

thanks and sorry for my bad spelling
max daddy ... the difference is they are trying to say its my car that is racing around. or why else would they have used a picture of my car? so if u lived in a small village and you had a one off car u would be abit peed off too
my car is a classic car not some chaved up Corsa but because its so diffrant they have used it for there article and by doing that in my eyes they are saying its me who is racing up and down
max daddy ... the difference is they are trying to say its my car that is racing around. or why else would they have used a picture of my car? so if u lived in a small village and you had a one off car u would be abit peed off too
my car is a classic car not some chaved up Corsa but because its so diffrant they have used it for there article and by doing that in my eyes they are saying its me who is racing up and down

 

[tanitha]

Ok, there's a couple of issues here:
1. Libel. Have they put the picture which shows your car in a story which suggests that you are doing this racing? If so, that's libel and you could sue them. Calling your car a 'race car' does seem to imply they are connecting you with the racing. What does the picture caption say? If the story is clear that your car was not racing, but just a car that happened to be there at the time, then it's not libel, but there may be issues around:
2. Privacy. Even if you don't meet the legal criteria for libel (which would lead to compensation/damages being paid) you could argue that the picture broke the PCC code on privacy and that, at the very least, they should have blurred your number plate. Blurring the number plate in such situations is standard industry practice and should have been done here.

So it's up to you, how far you want to take it. Would you settle for an apology and removal of the picture from their website (it may well also be there)?
Or do you want to fight for cash? If so, you need to see a solicitor who knows about media law (most don't)

 

[Gerald]

It's all according to the wording in the story if it doesn't say your car is one of the offenders or implies
it is there is nothing wrong but you should write to them and tell them you are offended by it and maybe they will print an apology