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| A stripped naked Tamil youth sits on a concrete step at the Borella bus stand as a laughing Sinhalese mob dance around him. |
In a ground breaking judgment – the first of its kind in Sri Lanka – which will especially interest proprietors and editors of newspapers, photographers and the media – a three judge bench of our Supreme Court recognized the “Economic Rights” of a newspaper journalist to nine exclusive photographs taken by him.
Several years later these photographs had been published in a newspaper without his consent, without his knowledge and without any acknowledgment. The journalist was awarded one million rupees in damages although the claim was for Rs.2.5 million.
The landmark judgment was delivered a few days ago on October 5, 2012, by Supreme Court Justice ShiraneeTillakawardane (with whom Justice Saleem Marsoof and Justice Hettige, both President’s Counsel, agreed).
