Bookmarkers beware: Bookmarks to pages other than the home page may not work after we change servers in April Editor's Choice | This Week in BMJ | Press releases BMJ No 7126 Volume 316 News Saturday 17 January 1998 BMJ to act on media abuse The BMJ is planning to take legal action against several leading British newspapers, as well as the BBC and ITN, for breach of copyright, after photographs from the journal were reproduced without written consent from the patient. Complaints are also being made to the Press Complaints Commission and the Broadcasting Standards Commission. In reporting the trial of Robert Buckland - who was convicted of attempted murder - the news media used pictures of Alison Kennedy, showing a knife deeply embedded in her skull. Miss Kennedy, who made a remarkable recovery, had given written consent for the pictures to be published only in the BMJ. The pictures appeared in the BMJmore than three months before the trial verdict, and Alison Kennedy was not identified. She was, however, clearly identifiable when the pictures were reproduced by the news media. Some of the media did contact the BMJ for permission, but even though this was refused they still used the pictures. The rest did not even try to obtain consent. In addition, the BMJ had published the pictures on its website; other websites - again without permission - created links to the relevant BMJ web page, much to the distress of Alison Kennedy's family. Although copyright considerations are regularly ignored by internet users, Chris Hughes, the British Medical Association's solicitor believes that copyright rules extend to web publishing: "Many newspapers have had a cavalier approach to both copyright and privacy . . . it is clear, however, that this style of journalism will increasingly be challenged." Richard Smith, the editor of the BMJ, feels that Alison Kennedy's rights have been abused by reproduction of these pictures without her permission, and that this is also an abuse of the doctor-patient relationship. Furthermore, he is concerned that patients may be less likely to give consent for information to be published in future, which may lower the quality of medical research and education in the journal. "We are consulting with our lawyers and plan to take action. From our point of view, this is a major abuse," he said. "Medical journals have made progress in recent years in getting consent from patients. Now the mass media need to follow." The BMJ has since removed one of the pictures of Alison Kennedy from its website to prevent unauthorised reproduction. Clare Dyer legal correspondent, BMJ Home | Current issue | Past issues | Classified ads | Career Focus | Feedback Collections | About this site | About the BMJ | BMA | Medline