Copyright – Case Law
Case law comprises the reported decisions of selected appellate and other courts (called courts of first impression) which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents. In England and Wales, courts decide the law applicable to a case by interpreting statutes and applying precedents which record how and why prior cases have been decided.
As with every statutory intellectual property right, a good deal of case law has arisen in relation to copyright law and practice. A selection of the more important and most recent decisions of the English High Court, Court of Appeal and House of Lords, now the Supreme Court appear below.
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Designer Guild Limited v. Russell Williams (Textiles) Limited House of Lords 23 November 2000
Lambretta Clothing Company Limited v. Teddy Smith (UK) Limited – Court of Appeal 15 July 2004
Lucasfilm Limited v. Andrew Ainsworth – Court of Appeal 16 December 2009
Magical Marking Limited v. Sean Patrick Holly & Ors – High Court ChD – 16 October 2008
Nova Productions Limited v. Mazooma Games Limited & Ors – High Court ChD – 20 January 2006
R Griggs Group Ltd & Ors v. Ross Evans & Ors – Court of Appeal – 25 January 2005
Cala Homes plc v. Alfred McAlpine Homes East – High Court ChD – 6 July 1995
CBS Songs Ltd v. Amstrad Consumer Electronics – House of Lords – 12 May 1988