The court considered at what point a work would constituted a finished work, and how this related to the copyright in earlier forms of the work: ‘If, in the course of producing a finished drawing, the author produces one or more preliminary versions, the finished product does not cease to be his original work simply because he adapts it with minor variations, or even if he simply copies it, from an earlier version. Each drawing having been made by him, each is his original work.’ The phrase ‘reason to believe’ involves the concept of knowledge of facts from which a reasonable man would arrive at the relevant belief: ‘Facts from which a reasonable man might suspect the relevant conclusion cannot be enough. Moreover, as it seems to me, the phrase does connote the allowance of a period of time to enable the reasonable man to evaluate those facts so as to convert the facts into a reasonable belief.’ (Morritt J)
Judges:
Nourse LJ, Morritt J
Citations:
[1992] FSR 121
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Sean Sweeney, Graham Edward Camps v Macmillan Publishers Limited, Danis Rose ChD 22-Nov-2001
The claimants were trustees of the estate of James Joyce, and complained at the publication of unpublished parts of the work Ulysses in a readers edition by the defendants. Published works are protected for fifty years after the author’s death, but . .
Cited – Taylor v Rive Droite Music Ltd ChD 6-Jul-2004
The claimant music producer and songwriter had entered into a publishers agreement with the defendant, agreeing to work for it. He now sought to be free to work for another company. The factual background was unclear, and the contract documentation . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Intellectual Property
Updated: 29 April 2022; Ref: scu.183004
