Attorney-General v Guardian Newspapers Ltd (No 2)

Attorney-General v Guardian Newspapers Ltd (No 2) [1990] 1 AC 109 is a UK copyright law and English trusts law case, concerning the confidentiality, profits and copyrights. It established that there can be an injunction and an award of monetary compensation or an account of profits.

Attorney-General v Guardian Newspapers Ltd (No 2)
Court	House of Lords
Citation	[1990] 1 AC 109
Transcript	judgment
Court membership
Judges sitting	Lord Keith of Kinkel, Lord Brightman, Lord Griffiths, Lord Goff of Chieveley, Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle
Keywords
Trusts

Facts

A book was written by an MI5 agent which disclosed secrets belonging to the agency. The book was not allowed to be published in the UK due to an injunction and instead was published in the United States. The Guardian wanted to write about what the book was about.

Judgment

Lord Goff stated that "the copyright in the book, including the film rights, are held by him on constructive trust for the confider".

See also

• English trust law