Gramophone Company Limited v Leo Feist Incorporated

The Gramophone Company Limited (appellant) appealed to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the infringement of copyright in musical compositions. The appellant alleged that Leo Feist Incorporated (respondent) had infringed its copyright by publishing and selling certain musical works in Australia without authorisation.

The High Court was required to determine whether the respondent had infringed the appellant's copyright in the musical compositions. Specifically, the court had to consider the scope of copyright protection afforded to musical works and the circumstances under which such protection could be asserted against an alleged infringer in Australia.

The court's reasoning focused on the nature of copyright and its territorial application. It was held that copyright in a musical work subsists independently in each country where it is published. Therefore, the respondent's actions in Australia, if they constituted infringement of the copyright subsisting in Australia, would be actionable. The court examined the evidence presented to establish the existence of the copyright and the alleged acts of infringement. The principles of copyright law, as understood at the time, were applied to ascertain whether the respondent's conduct fell within the prohibited acts of infringement.