The court described the test for joint authorship in a work of music: ‘What the claimant to joint authorship of a work must establish is that he has made a significant and original contribution to the creation of the work and that he has done so pursuant to a common design. See, for example, Stuart v. Barrett [1994] EMLR 448. It is not necessary that his contribution to the work is equal in terms of either quantity, quality or originality to that of his collaborators. Nor, in the case of a song, does it matter that his contribution is to the orchestral arrangement of the song rather than to the song itself.’
Judges:
Blackburne J
Citations:
[1995] EMLR 307
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Stuart v Barrett 1-Nov-1994
. .
Cited by:
Cited – Hadley v Kemp 1999
Three members of the group Spandau Ballet sought to be treated as joint authors of the songs in which copyright was claimed. The songs had been composed at home by another member of the group who was a keyboard player and singer, but then played and . .
Cited – Sawkins v Hyperion Records Limited ChD 5-Jul-2004
The claimant had edited ancient music scores so as to be ready for performance for the defendant. He asserted a copyright. The defendants argued that the contribution was too little to create a copyright.
Held: To succeed Dr Sawkins had to . .
Cited – Fisher v Brooker and Another ChD 20-Dec-2006
The claimant said that he had contributed to the copyright in the song ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ but had been denied royalties. He had played the organ and particularly the organ solo which had contrbuted significantly to the fame of the record.
Cited – Hodgens v Beckingham CA 19-Feb-2003
The defendant appealed a finding of infringement in a music copyright work, ‘Young at Heart’, based on a claim of joint authorship. The claimant had delayed his claim for many years, but now sought only rights to future royalties.
Held: The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Intellectual Property
Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.199975