In Happy Camper Productions Ltd v British Broadcasting Corporation, the claimant sought an interim injunction in the context of alleged infringement of copyright in a script. The claimant failed in its application for multiple reasons as we explore. The claimant company was the purported owner of the copyright in a script for a pilot episode…

The Court concluded that the Copyright Tribunal does not have jurisdiction under section 126 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 to set the terms of licences of foreign copyrights; but that it nevertheless has the power in some circumstances to make an order in respect of the whole of a licence which covers…

The Court held that a greeting card designer was the sole copyright owner of the rights in a number of greeting cards but had validly assigned the copyright to the claimant. The defendants were jointly liable for infringement of copyright in two of the claimant’s cards. Case date: 06 June 2018 Case number: [2018] EWHC…

Recently there has been an increase in the number of damages hearings in the UK. The trend continues with a recent High Court case (Reformation Publishing v Cruiseco Limited [2018] EWHC 2761 (Ch)) where the band Spandau Ballet’s management company sought compensation for unauthorised use of their copyright against a company using two of their…

The terms of the UK’s future relationship with the EU have yet to be concluded and so there is inevitably a degree of uncertainty about what Brexit ultimately means for copyright in the UK. Recent developments in parliament mean the Brexit uncertainty is higher than ever. The future relationship will really only crystallise sometime after…

Whilst it is highly debatable whether the EU Withdrawal Agreement will get through the UK Parliament, the chances are that if any revised deal is struck later, the IP provisions will remain unchanged.  (The Johnson brothers, and even Jacob Rees-Mogg are unlikely to be terribly exercised about matters such as the continued application post- 31…

On 18 July, the High Court (Arnold J) in The Football Association Premier League Ltd v British Telecommunications Plc & Ors [2018] EWHC 1828 (Ch) granted an extension of a 2017 order requiring BT and others to block access to streaming services which gave unauthorised access to live Premier League football matches during the 2018/19…

Internet access providers should be compensated for website blocking requested by IP right owners. In a nutshell, this is what the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled back in June. The entire saga, however, has much wider implications and should be properly considered beyond the UK borders. Background The Cartier case arose from a…

Introduction Since the British government has triggered Art. 50 TEU it can be considered a certainty that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union. What is not clear to date are the exact terms that will shape the future relationship between the two parties – and thus the situation of British stakeholders in the…