Determining Copyright Infringement Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Determining Copyright Infringement - Case Study Example A general trend that emerges is that even in instances where copying of original works have been found, a remedy will lie only when infringement is substantial and this has been conditional on the criterion of quality rather than quantity in determining the value of material so infringed. However, legal boundaries have been more clearly established in other countries such as the United States, while in the UK, judgments appear to be on an ad hoc basis providing no legal certainty or consistency, hence the level and delineation of copyright appears indeterminate. Moreover, another aspect that arises in this context is whether such protection as afforded under the Act is adequate in a digital environment where copying is facilitated since the online environment is so structured that a page can be copied without leaving a trace and footprints of the pirate are difficult to track. Although criticisms have been leveled against the recommendations offered by Gowers after an IP review to restrict extensions of copyright on sound recordings, nevertheless this review has highlighted the need for greater flexibility and balance in the IP system, thereby underlining the fact that the current laws may not offer adequate scope to precisely define limits determining infringement. It may be noted that no precise formula can be pinpointed in the Courts’ decisions on what constitutes infringement. Petersen J set out a rough test for a remedy to be provided for infringement of copyright as follows: â€Å"What is worth copying is prima facie worth protecting.†Ã‚  In order to determine whether or not an infringement of copyright in a work has actually taken place, courts first of all try to define copying by determining whether the alleged items or incidents infringed are ideas or expressions. Copyright protection does not extend to mere ideas on which there ca n be no copyright, but to â€Å"sufficient substance of literary protection.†