Murdoch company settles for $200,000 with Jude Law

[January 19, 2012]  LONDON (AP) -- Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper company has agreed to pay actor Jude Law 130,000 pounds (about $200,000) to settle claims against the News of the World and The Sun tabloids.

News Group Newspapers accepted that 16 articles about Law published in the now-defunct News of the World tabloid between 2003 and 2006 had been obtained by phone hacking, and that the actor had also been placed under "repeated and sustained physical surveillance."

The company also admitted that articles in The Sun tabloid misused Law's private information but did not give further details.

Law's lawyer said Thursday the acts had caused "considerable distress ... distrust and suspicion."

The agreement with the actor was among 36 cases the company said Thursday it would be settling.

[Associated Press; By JILL LAWLESS]

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