The defendant to an action for an injunction by the plaintiff on behalf of the British Phonographic Industry Copyright Society, said that the company did not properly represent the members of the Society.
Held: It could be inferred that all relevant members of a copyright society would wish to suppress counterfeit goods, and so they had a sufficient common interest to allow a representative action by the society acting through the plaintiff. Allowing a representative action would avoid substantial and unnecessary complications of each member of the class pursuing a separate action.
Judges:
Dillon J
Citations:
[1981] 1 All ER 838, [1981] 1 WLR 923
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Distinguished – Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v Newman Industries Ltd ChD 1979
Members of the defendant company had approved in general meeting, of an acquisition of the assets of another company in which its directors were substantially interested. The shareholders’ approval was given on the basis of a circular. The action . .
Cited by:
Cited – Independiente Ltd and others v Music Trading On-Line (HK) Ltd and others ChD 13-Mar-2003
The claimants claimed damages for the sale by the defendants in the UK of CD’s manufactured for sale only in the far East. The defendants challenged the right of a claimant phonographic society to have the right to sue on behalf of its members.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Intellectual Property, Litigation Practice
Updated: 19 July 2022; Ref: scu.179755