The news that Maddy arguido Robert Murat is seeking damages from 11 newspapers and one broadcaster, as the Observer reported yesterday, is a dramatic development in this remarkable story. 
If he wins, he could get about £200,000 from each, which would work out at well over £2m.
A month ago today the Express and Star newspapers published front-page apologies for their coverage of the alleged involvment of Madeleine's parents in her disappearance. They also paid £550,000 towards the Find Madeleine Fund.
So it looks like we're entering an exciting and uncharted time for the world of libel and media law in general.
And particularly interesting is the fact that the Portuguese police seem no closer to finding out what actually happened.
If he wins, he could get about £200,000 from each, which would work out at well over £2m.
A month ago today the Express and Star newspapers published front-page apologies for their coverage of the alleged involvment of Madeleine's parents in her disappearance. They also paid £550,000 towards the Find Madeleine Fund.
So it looks like we're entering an exciting and uncharted time for the world of libel and media law in general.
And particularly interesting is the fact that the Portuguese police seem no closer to finding out what actually happened.
In a similar case of child-disappearance, the tangled web of familial involvement is being unravelled by police investigating the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews. 
The two stories have been compared and contrasted in terms of the financial backing of the hunts, the class and connections of the families involved and the police investigation itself.
But now that Karen Matthews has been charged, along with a number of friends and family for various parts played in the kidnapping, I expect the suggestive and relatively quiet criticism of the Dewsbury Moor community to turn into more full-blown attacks on the leading protagonists, such as this peice in yesterday's News of the World.
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