Cases

London General Holdings v USP Holdings plc

Held

Neither the price drop on 1 March 2000 nor the price drop on 24 March 2000 could be attributed to the taking of text from the copyright-protected document. The utility of the CAA in the Powerhouse negotiations rested in the trust-based concept which it exemplified. Damages for breach of copyright can only be awarded for the unauthorised use of the actual text of the document. They could not be recovered for pirating an idea found in the text. Since the claim in confidence was co-extensive with the claim in copyright, the same result followed. But it was appropriate to increase the notional royalty award from £15,000 to £35,000 to take account of the infringement on 7 March 2000, which took place when the parties were in head-to-head competition.

Also