The claimants distributed Doc Marten footwear. They asked an agency to prepare a logo. The agency paid an independent contractor to prepare it, but did not take an assignment of copyright to it. The contractor sold the rights in the logo to the defendants who distributed the shoes in Australia. The claimants obtained an order vesting the copyright in them. The defendant appealed.
Held: The appeal failed. The court adopted and approved the approach in Ray v Classic FM. There was no business sense in importing a clause under which the defendant would retain the copyright.
Judges:
Lord Justice Chadwick Mr Justice Lloyd Lord Justice Jacob
Citations:
[2005] EWCA Civ 11, [2005] FSR (31) 706
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
See also – R Griggs Group Ltd and others v Evans and others (No 2) ChD 12-May-2004
A logo had been created for the claimants, by an independent sub-contractor. They sought assignment of their legal title, but, knowing of the claimant’s interest the copyright was assigned to a third party out of the jurisdiction. The claimant . .
Appeal from – R Griggs Group Ltd and others v Evans and others ChD 2-Dec-2003
An advertising agency was requested to provide a logo. It employed an independent designer. Who owned the copyright, in this case of the AirWair logo? The defendants had taken an assignment of the copyright from the first author. The claimants . .
Cited – Robin Ray v Classic FM Plc PatC 18-Mar-1998
Contractor and Client Copyrights
The plaintiff had contributed a design for a system of classifying and selecting tracks to be played on a radio station. He did so under a consultancy contract.
Held: A Joint authorship claim required that the contributor had made some direct . .
Cited – Meikle v Maufe 1941
An implied licence is limited to what is in the joint contemplation of the parties at the date of the contract, and does not extend to enable the Client to take advantage of a new unexpected profitable opportunity.
Uthwatt J said: ‘It was . .
Cited – Liverpool City Council v Irwin HL 31-Mar-1976
The House found it to be an implied term of a tenancy agreement that the lessor was to be responsible for repairing and lighting the common parts of the building of which the premises formed part. In analysing the different types of contract case in . .
Cited – Philips Electronique v British Sky Broadcasting Ltd CA 1995
There is a presumption against adding terms to a contract. The presumption is stronger where the contract is in writing and represents an apparently complete bargain between the parties. Sir Thomas Bingham MR set out Lord Simon’s formulation, and . .
Cited – BP Refinery (Westernport) Pty Ltd v The Shire of Hastings PC 1977
(Victoria) The Board set out the necessary conditions for a clause to be implied into a contract.
Held: Lord Simon of Glaisdale said: ‘Their Lordships do not think it necessary to review exhaustively the authorities on the implication of a . .
Cited by:
Cited – Orvec International Ltd v Linfoots Ltd IPEC 18-Jun-2014
Action for passing off and breach of contract. The defendants had provided photography services, the copyright residing with the claimants. The claimant said that the defendant had continued use of the photographs after termination of the contract. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Intellectual Property, Contract
Updated: 28 June 2022; Ref: scu.221741