An Intentional View of the Copyright Work

37 Pages Posted: 11 Sep 2007 Last revised: 19 Jul 2010

See all articles by Justine Pila

Justine Pila

Professor of Law - University of Oxford

Date Written: July 1, 2007

Abstract

In this article I consider the questions at the heart of copyright: what is a work and the extent of protection which copyright confers? In so doing I make two central arguments. The first is for an understanding of copyright works oriented around authorial intent, and the second is for a statutory test of infringement that pays closer attention to issues of policy and the authorial acts that copyright rewards. In developing these arguments I revisit two of the central cases of modern English copyright law, Walter v Lane and Interlego v Tyco Industries, and suggest that their reasoning is problematic; Walter v Lane because the transcripts of Lord Rosebery's speeches were not books for copyright purposes, and Interlego because the technical specifications were part of the drawings, which were consequently new artistic works for copyright purposes. This suggestion is supported by contemporary authority - including paradoxically Sawkins v Hyperion Records in which the correctness of both cases was most recently affirmed - and has wider implications for our copyright regime.

Suggested Citation

Pila, Justine, An Intentional View of the Copyright Work (July 1, 2007). The Modern Law Review, Vol. 71, pp. 535-558, 2008, Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper No. 5/2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=982419

Justine Pila (Contact Author)

Professor of Law - University of Oxford ( email )

St Cross Building
St Cross Road
Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3UL
Great Britain

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