Abstract:
The late Sir Hugh Laddie once said, in relation to copyright, that we shouldn't be handing out monopolies like confetti while muttering "this won't hurt". He was right. But it is too late now. The horse has well and truly bolted. Now a New Zealand judge, applying well-worn principles to a provision identical to that in the United Kingdom, has decided that an eight-word advertising slogan is a literary work. Is clarity possible in copyright law or is it just an unfair competition law?