Day 147 - 04 Jul 95 - Page 21

     
     1
     2   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think you will find that is a breach of
     3        copyright.  If I am wrong about that, say so, but that is
     4        what copyright is; you can only do it with the consent of
     5        the person who has the copyright.
     6
     7   MR. MORRIS:  For a start, copyright -- it would therefore be a
     8        breach of copyright if the Plaintiffs were to give you a
     9        copy.
    10
    11   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, because they have bought my copy off the
    12        Shorthand Writer, who thereby has consented to them giving
    13        it to me.  It is not pedantry.  I cannot change the law of
    14        copyright in this case.  If I am wrong about it, put me
    15        right.
    16
    17   MR. MORRIS:  We are copying tens of thousands of documents from
    18        parties and to witnesses for the purposes of this case.
    19
    20   MS. STEEL:  I thought it was the case that you could copy
         documents for the purposes of legal proceedings, and the
    22        copyright laws did not apply to documents that were copied
    23        solely for the purposes of legal proceedings.
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You may have to refer me to being able to do
    26        that.
    27
    28   MS. STEEL:  I think, actually, Mr. Rampton has referred to it on
    29        a number of occasions.
    30
    31   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, that, as a general rule, is right, of
    32        course.  But there are no doubt special provisions, for
    33        other obvious reasons -- otherwise, the poor transcribers
    34        would be quite unprotected -- which apply to court
    35        transcripts.  Their whole line of business lies in making
    36        transcripts.
    37
    38   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If it is suggested that anyone can photograph
    39        a copy of the transcript, all I will say is, that flies in
    40        the face of everything I have always been told about making
         copies of transcripts.  The same applies to transcripts of
    42        judgments which one gets out of the library.  People do
    43        actually photograph them, but they are in breach of
    44        copyright when they do it.  It is not so very long ago that
    45        you actually had to ask the judge in court to get a copy of
    46        it for you, because they would not release it just to
    47        anyone, for fear that they would photocopy it and be in
    48        breach of copyright.
    49
    50        If all this is a terrible misunderstanding of law on my 
    51        part, I would like to be put right.  It seems to me, 
    52        Mr. Rampton, that Barnett Lenton at lunchtime may be able 
    53        to help you, because I am sure they know the provisions.
    54
    55   MR. RAMPTON:  If your Lordship is in error, or I am, about that
    56        part of the law, it is my duty to put it right.  It does
    57        not really concern me, because I am only concerned with the
    58        source of funding for the copies which the Defendants are
    59        presently getting.  Should they find another route for them
    60        to get transcripts, whether out of public funds or by some