It may be obvious to you, but it wasn't obvious to the Portuguese Courts. Your opinion of Amaral's book doesn't constitute proof, you would need to be able to prove that he libeled the McCanns. As his conclusions matched those of the investigation as at September 2007 that would be difficult imo.
he was within his rights ....it seems.even mentions the mccs promoting his book
The judges indicated that the McCanns had voluntarily limited their rights to privacy by making themselves available to the national and international media to which they had easy access. In effect they opened the way for anyone to debate and express opinions about the case, including opinions that contradicted their own.
In essence, the appeal judges ruled that the McCanns' rights had not been infringed and that Amaral’s book was a lawful example of freedom of expression.
Many observers would argue that the lawsuit instigated by the McCanns seven years ago is turning out to be more harmful and costly to them than the defendants. It has inadvertently generated publicity of a kind they least wanted and boosted book sales,