Oxford grad and ex RAG President, Louis Geary, teaches himself law and wins payout from the Daily Mail

Louis Geary, a Psychology and Philosophy Oxford graduate, successfully sued the Daily Mail for £5,000 after naked photos of him and his friends taken for charity appeared online and in the paper.

Geary taught himself the legal procedure to issue a claim at the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) after the Daily Mail swiped photos from the 2014 Oxford Blues Charity Naked Calendar.

Over 75 Oxford athletes stripped off to raise money for four student elected charities: Oxford Food Bank, Education Partnerships Africa, Students Supporting Street Kids, and Giving What We Can. Images from the calendar then appeared in both the Daily Mail and the Mail Online.

In 2014, the then copyright owner Toby Mather, student photographer, ordered that either the Mail Online remove the photos, or make a sizeable donation to RAG’s charities. Associated Newspapers, the mastermind behind the Mail, protested that they had acquired the images from a legitimate news agency. When Mather informed Associated Newspapers that neither they nor the agency had any rights to the photos, Associated Newspapers stopped replying to Mather’s communications.

Enter hero Louis Geary, self taught law amateur, taking on the most bombastic publication in print. The Mail mobilised the aid of top London lawyers Reynolds Porter Chamberlain. Against this armada of national prestige, Geary reigned victorious, avoiding a court hearing, and reaching a settlement of £5,000.

Geary and his band of merry men distributed the £5,000 settlement among the charities who had originally benefitted from the calendar. He described his feat of triumph as ‘’a huge learning experience, and a lot of hard work. The result is a relief and a success for the athletes and
charities involved.”

SSK extended their sincere thanks, ‘delighted’ with the surprise donation.