Dutch celeb Patricia Paay wins revenge port lawsuit

By Janene Pieters on July 25, 2018 - 15:50
Patricia Paay
Patricia Paay. (Photo: Patricia Paay / Facebook)

Patricia Paay won her lawsuit against website GeenStijl and Twitter user Eendevanger. Geenstijl and Eendevanger acted unlawfully in p, the court in Amsterdam ruled on Wednesday. They must pay Paay 30 thousand euros in compensation for immaterial damages, AD reports.

The case revolves around a sex tape featuring Paay and her ex-boyfriend. The video was spread among friends, but leaked out further. GeenStijl and Eendevanger posted the video online, after which it was viewed thousands of times. Both parties claimed that Paay herself shared the video among numerous friends and that she is therefore guilty of spreading the video.

GeenStijl and Eendevanger are jointly liable for the compensation. This means they must sort out among themselves who will pay what amount of the 30 thousand euros. They are also liable for the process costs of around 2,600 euros. 

Paay demanded a total of 450 thousand euros in damages from GeenStijl and Eendevanger - 250 thousand euros for immaterial damages such as psychological problems and violation of her privacy and good name, and 200 thousand euros for material damage which also affected her daughter. Paay said she and her daughter both received fewer television assignments after the video leaked, according to the newspaper. Her lawyer Johan Langelaar called the video being posted online an "unprecedented and unique" violation of Paay's privacy.

In a first reaction, Langelaar said that he is pleased and disappointed by the ruling. "It is important that they are condemned for posting the video. That was unlawful. But I had hoped for a somewhat higher amount of compensation. We of course aimed very high, but I had counted on some sixty or seventy thousand euros. The court does not consider material damage to be proven. For that we can possibly go to appeal", the lawyer said to AD.

GeenStijl posted a short response to the ruling: "We are pleased that Paay's exorbitant claim ws rejected." The website called the 30 thousand euros in compensation "significantly less than her absurd demand of 450,000 euros, but still stupid."

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