Zeta Jones fails at early Hello! hearing

The Hollywood couple's 2000 wedding sparked the court case

Hollywood stars Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas have failed to stop Hello! magazine's defence case being heard in a trial over publication of their wedding pictures.

The celebrity couple are in a legal fight with the magazine after it published pictures of their wedding in November 2000.

They have sued them for £2m over publishing the pictures days ahead of a deal made with Hello!'s rival, OK! magazine.

During a preliminary hearing at London's High Court on Monday, senior judge Andrew Morritt did criticise Hello! but also said that its defence should be heard during the trial, which is scheduled to begin on 3 February.

Lawyers for Hello! magazine said they would be opposing on Tuesday any new attempts to further delay the trial.

Douglas, 58, and Zeta Jones, 33, who is expecting the couple's second baby within weeks, are expected in court when the trial begins.

The couple were originally offered £200,000 by Hello!

They will argue the photos breached their privacy.

The couple's lawsuit follows a landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal, which for the first time recognised that celebrities have rights to privacy.

Hello! had tried to win the rights for exclusive coverage of the wedding, offering £200,000.

Wedding privacy

This was turned down in favour of an offer from its rival OK!, which had made a £1m deal with the couple.

Hello! published three days earlier than OK! with its own "exclusive" photographs of the stars, sparking the court action.

The couple won a High Court order banning further sales of the edition, but this was lifted by the Court of Appeal.

The couple then decided to seek damages from the magazine, with the Court of Appeal also ruling that they were likely to be able to prove at trial that publication of the photographs should not have been allowed.

The judges then said the pair had a "powerful case" as they had a right to privacy at the wedding where guests and workers had been told not to take any photos and the media told to stay away.

Zeta Jones' wedding cost over £1m

Zeta Jones and Douglas are expected to tell the court that they had suffered stress and loss of income from syndication rights.

They will also say their professional careers were damaged because the photographs published by Hello! were of poor quality.

The couple's wedding was held at the Grand Ballroom of the New York Plaza Hotel and was reported to have cost between £1.2m and £1.5m