Blackie & Sons Ltd v Lothian Book Publishing Co Pty Ltd

Blackie & Sons Ltd. (the plaintiff) brought an action in the High Court against The Lothian Book Publishing Co. Proprietary Ltd. (the defendant) for breach of copyright. The dispute concerned an annotated edition of Shakespeare's play "The Life of King Henry the Fifth." The plaintiff had published its annotated edition in the United Kingdom in 1895, which comprised an introduction, the play's text, notes, and a glossary, involving significant independent labour and research. The defendant subsequently published its own annotated edition in Australia in 1918.

The court was required to determine two primary issues: first, whether the plaintiff was entitled to copyright in its annotated edition, and second, whether the defendant's edition infringed upon that copyright. The plaintiff contended that its work was original and protected under copyright law, while the defendant argued that its own publication was the result of independent research and resort to common sources.

Starke J. held that the plaintiff was entitled to copyright in its annotated edition, finding that it involved substantial independent labour and research beyond merely compiling existing material. The court affirmed that the object of copyright law is to protect the specific expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. Regarding infringement, the court found that while the defendant's book was not a mere copy and involved independent research, it had appropriated a substantial and valuable portion of the plaintiff's work, particularly in parts of the general introduction and certain textual notes, either verbatim or under a colourable disguise. The court noted that the defendant's arrangement and text of the play were not copied, and much of the notes and glossary were independently derived. However, the appropriation of the plaintiff's labour and research in specific sections was deemed substantial and material, constituting an infringement.

Consequently, the court ordered that the defendant be perpetually restrained from publishing or selling the parts of its book that infringed the plaintiff's copyright, specifically identifying passages in the general introduction, introductory comments to Act I, Scene 1, and certain textual notes. The court also ordered an inquiry into damages sustained by the plaintiff, at the plaintiff's risk as to costs, and awarded the plaintiff its costs of the action.