Michael, Catherine Return to Court

By Stephen M. Silverman

Wednesday July 16, 2003 01:00 PM EDT

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Yahoo Buzz
• E-mail

It was back to court for Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones on Wednesday in London, as their lawyers argued that the star couple suffered "real personal distress" from the publication of unauthorized photos of their wedding, Reuters reports.

Pressing for financial damages in the case against Britain's Hello! magazine, Douglas and Zeta-Jones attorney Alistair Wilson said the publication invaded the couple's privacy by printing photographs from their splashy 2000 reception, held at New York's Plaza Hotel.

(The couple had signed an exclusive $1.6 million deal with Hello! rival OK! magazine for the photo rights, but Hello! beat OK! to the newsstands.)

"It was rather like a burglary when your possessions were stolen and their value has gone, but at the same time you feel a sense of personal invasion of privacy and a real distress," Wilson told Judge John Lindsay.

In April, the jurist sided with the Douglases, after hearing arguments from both sides about Hello!'s unauthorized -- and unflattering -- pictures. Some of the shots showed the bride stuffing her face with cake, which led to nasty captions in the British tabloids.

"Their commercial rights were interfered with, rights that they licensed exclusively to OK! magazine," said Wilson, who added that Douglases needed to "let their hair down" at their wedding without worrying about photographers.

This new round of legal wrangling is expected to last all week and will help determine the extent of financial damages the stars should be awarded. A final monetary figure is not expected to be announced for several weeks.