NIPC Law

Author Friedrich-Johann-Justin-Bertuch    Jane Lambert Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (HH Judge Melissa Clarke)  Evans v John Lewis Plc and anothe r [2023] EWHC 766 (IPEC) (3 April 2023)    This was another copyright case that turned on whether copying could be proved.  The claimant was the self-published author of a children's book about a young dragon who could not help emitting fire. She claimed that a substantial part of her work had been copied in an advertising film that had been made by the second defendant for the retailer John Lewis Plc at Christmas 2019. That film featured another fire-emitting young dragon and was accompanied by a spin-off children's book called Excitable Edgar .  The claimant sued for copyright infringement. The creators of the film counterclaimed for a declaration of non-infringement and a publicity order.  The action and counterclaim came on for trial before Her Honour Judge Melissa Clarke on 30 and 31 Jan 20...

Author Stacey Harris   Licence CC BY-SA 2.0   Source Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert Business and Property Courts, Intellectual Property List (Mr Justice Marcus Smith) Molavi v Gilbert and others    [2023] EWHC 646 (Ch) (23 March 2023) This was an application under  CPR 24.2 (1) (i) , by the writer, Virginia Gilbert, BBC Studios Production Ltd and the British Broadcasting Corporation for summary judgment in an action that had been brought against them by the screenwriter Dr Donna Molavi for copyright infringement and breach of confidence . They contended that the claimant had no real prospect of succeeding in her allegation that they had copied her storyline and other material for two episodes of the forensic pathology series Silent Witness .   Copying can be inferred where the following conditions are satisfied: there is an objective similarity between the original work and the alleged copy; and the author of the alleged copy had an opportunit...