Copyright In Photographic Works

The judge in a recent case before the UK Patents County Court considered whether a photographic image reproduced a substantial part of another, earlier photographic image, thereby potentially infringing the copyright in the earlier photographic image. Commentators have criticised the judgment for stretching copyright protection to ideas when the essence of copyright is to protect the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves.

The case involved a photograph taken by Justin Fielder, the managing director of the souvenir company Temple Island Collections, of a London Routemaster bus crossing Westminster Bridge with Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament in the background. The image (Image 1) is largely black and white, with the Houses of Parliament and Westminster bridge shown in grey. The sky is white, with no visible clouds or anything else. A bright red London Routemaster bus stands out on the bridge. Fielder digitally manipulated the original photograph to achieve