Victoria and Albert Museum

The complainant requested information from the Victoria and Albert Museum (the ‘V&A’) relating to its dealings with the artist Madonna and her representatives regarding a film which Madonna is directing. He also requested any information it held regarding Madonna’s management company, Live Nation, and the V&A regarding a potential Madonna exhibition at the V&A. The V&A said that the information relating to the first request was exempt under section 40 (personal information). As regards the second request it applied section 43 (commercial interests) and section 41 (information provided in confidence). The Commissioner’s decision is that all three exemptions are applicable. The Commissioner’s decision is that the V&A breached section 17(1)(b) in that it did not claim the exemption in section 40(5)(b)(i) when responding to part 4 of the complainant's request.