Model Answers
Intellectual Property Law
Past Paper for the year 2020/2021
, PART A: COMPULSORY QUESTION
Question 1
Alan is walking home one day when he sees a building engulfed in flames. A
young woman is leaning out of a window and shouting for help. Alan
immediately climbs up a drain pipe and makes his way along a lintel to help.
Together with the woman he fights his way through the flames and they are
both able to escape to safety.
Bill, a local photographer, sees Alan climb the drain pipe and takes photos
which later appear in the local newspaper as part of an article written by
Chris, a freelance journalist. To write the article, Chris goes to interview Alan
and writes his article about Alan’s bravery using very large amounts of Alan’s
words from his answers to the interview questions. These words are
published verbatim in the article.
Alan decides to publish his own version of the event as a book using most of
his own words as recorded by Chris and published in the newspaper article.
Alan claims his moral rights in the book. The local newspaper threatens Alan
with breach of copyright in the article.
Dawn, a local comedienne, does a gig in which she parodies Alan, making him
out to be a Tarzan like ape-man figure risking his life to save his Jane. Eddie,
Dawn’s boyfriend, videos the gig for Dawn. But Eddie decides he will help
Dawn by showing the video to a theatrical agent, Freddie. Freddie takes
extracts from the video and includes them in a promotional disk called
“Funny English Roses” which he sells to the public through a London outlet,
“Gee Whizz.”
Henrietta, who went to dawn’s gig is inspired by the story of Alan’s bravery
and uses some of Dawn’s ideas in a children’s adventure story which she gets
published.
What rights and obligations (express and where relevant implied) under
copyright law do Alan, Bill, Chris, the local newspaper, Dawn, Eddie, Freddie,
Gee Whizz, and Henrietta each have.
[100 Marks]
Model Answer
Intellectual Property Law
Past Paper for the year 2020/2021
, PART A: COMPULSORY QUESTION
Question 1
Alan is walking home one day when he sees a building engulfed in flames. A
young woman is leaning out of a window and shouting for help. Alan
immediately climbs up a drain pipe and makes his way along a lintel to help.
Together with the woman he fights his way through the flames and they are
both able to escape to safety.
Bill, a local photographer, sees Alan climb the drain pipe and takes photos
which later appear in the local newspaper as part of an article written by
Chris, a freelance journalist. To write the article, Chris goes to interview Alan
and writes his article about Alan’s bravery using very large amounts of Alan’s
words from his answers to the interview questions. These words are
published verbatim in the article.
Alan decides to publish his own version of the event as a book using most of
his own words as recorded by Chris and published in the newspaper article.
Alan claims his moral rights in the book. The local newspaper threatens Alan
with breach of copyright in the article.
Dawn, a local comedienne, does a gig in which she parodies Alan, making him
out to be a Tarzan like ape-man figure risking his life to save his Jane. Eddie,
Dawn’s boyfriend, videos the gig for Dawn. But Eddie decides he will help
Dawn by showing the video to a theatrical agent, Freddie. Freddie takes
extracts from the video and includes them in a promotional disk called
“Funny English Roses” which he sells to the public through a London outlet,
“Gee Whizz.”
Henrietta, who went to dawn’s gig is inspired by the story of Alan’s bravery
and uses some of Dawn’s ideas in a children’s adventure story which she gets
published.
What rights and obligations (express and where relevant implied) under
copyright law do Alan, Bill, Chris, the local newspaper, Dawn, Eddie, Freddie,
Gee Whizz, and Henrietta each have.
[100 Marks]
Model Answer
