Joint Authorship And Copyright In Light Of The ‘Martin vs. Kogan' Appeal Judgment

Background and Facts of the Case

In recent years, the notion of "joint authorship" has been the subject of various debates and discussions, most notably in relation to copyright works in the film industry. A recent judgment in this regard is the 'Martin vs. Kogan' judgment, where in 2017 the case was brought before the UK Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) at first instance, with the latter's decision being appealed. Last month, the Court of Appeal delivered a landmark appeal judgment which serves as a guidance to joint authors, highlighting the level of input that is needed for a contributor to be ultimately regarded as a joint author for their contribution.

The main dispute in the case in question concerned the authorship of the screenplay of the 2016 drama-comedy film 'Florence Foster Jenkins', which was directed by Stephen Frears and starred actors Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant. Nicholas Martin, a professional writer of film and television scripts,