IPEC rules on copyright and joint authorship: ‘useful jargon’, ‘helpful criticism’ and ‘minor plot suggestions’ are not enough

Abstract

Nicholas Martin, Big Hat Stories Limited v Julia Kogan, Florence Film Limited, Pathé Productions Limited, Qwerty Films Limited [2017] EWHC 2927 (IPEC), 22 November 2017

In its 2017 decision in Martin v Kogan, the UK Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) ruled that Ms Kogan’s contribution to the screenplay for the film Florence Foster Jenkins, starring Hugh Grant and Meryl Streep in the role of Florence Foster Jenkins, a famous American socialite known for her poor opera singing, was insufficient to amount to joint authorship.