An injunction which stopped publication of information about the private life of singer Van Morrison has been lifted by the High Court in Belfast.
The ban has been set aside on condition that no privacy laws are breached by the newspaper involved.
This includes an undertaking not to publish descriptions or photographs of others linked to the case.
Last October the Belfast-born star secured a ruling which prevented the News of the World from printing photographs of him, his home and of businesswoman Gigi Lee.
At the time a judge declined to impose a so-called super injunction, describing it as “too wide an ambit”.
In his affidavit, Morrison (65) set out how he performed in public but regarded his private life and personal relationships as an area to be kept away from scrutiny or comment.
“I have made considerable efforts to protect my private life and I have refused to be interviewed about it, to comment on it publicly or to authorise others to do so, save in very limited circumstances when a bare minimum of information is required to prevent or minimise harm from the repeated attempts of others to publish allegations about my private life," he said.
Morrison stressed that he gave no authority for anyone to publish the information or photographs under scrutiny.
An article studied by the judge included details about his home, its value, layout and furnishing, together with the input into its management by Ms Lee. It also referred to staff living there, physical descriptions of a child involved in the case, and visits made to the home.
The newspaper argued that the original article did not detail private or intimate particulars of any relationship between the plaintiffs.
According to a journalist who gave evidence, it amounted to a very low level of intrusiveness.
But Mr Justice Gillen ruled at the time that the right to privacy outweighed that of freedom of expression. He held that the public do not have a legitimate interest in knowing the private affairs of Morrison and Ms Lee, where they live or behave in private - however well known they are.
The judge said that the article and photographs went beyond the margin allowed to a free press and constituted an unacceptable intrusion on their privacy.
The full implications of the discharging of the injunction, made on consent at the High Court in Belfast this week, remain unclear. The defendants in the case have pledged to observe privacy rights in anything they publish.