Acohs Pty Ltd v R A Bashford Consulting Pty Ltd & Ors [1997] FCA 352

CATCHWORDS

Trade Practices - Publication of false claim of copyright infringement - Retraction of claim - Whether publication of retraction relevant to breach of s.52 - Whether retraction relevant to remedy - Whether injunctive relief should be granted when no threat of further publication - Whether damages should be awarded for harm to reputation and goodwill when no loss of income is established. Copyright - Material safety data sheets compiled for hazardous substances - Whether sufficient skill, judgment or labour expended in producing the compilation - Whether an original literary work - Whether copyright subsists in the compilation. Copyright - Infringement of copyright by reproduction and adaptation of material safety data sheets into a computer database - Data sheets commissioned for the purpose of enabling safe industrial handling, storage, use and transportation of hazardous chemicals - Whether implied licence by the copyright owner that the sheets may be reproduced or adapted for the safety related purposes for which they were brought into existence - Whether licence is implied by law to a particular class of contracts or only where it is necessary to give business efficacy to the particular contract - Whether licence should be implied in favour of third parties using the data sheets - Whether implied licence is excluded by the terms of the contract commissioning the preparation of the sheets - Whether reproduction and adaptation of the sheets by a computer software supplier within terms of the implied licence - Whether copyright in the data sheets infringed by computer software supplier. Copyright - Relief for infringement - Whether public interest is a defence to copyright infringement - Whether remedies of injunction and delivery up of infringing copies should be refused on grounds of public interest - Whether Court ought to refuse discretionary remedies which have the effect of preventing or impeding the provision of information for the safety of members of the public - Whether Court ought to refuse relief which might affect the liability of third parties to members of the public. Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) ss.52, 80 and 82. Copyright Act 1966 (Cth) ss.35, 36, 115 and 116. Wardley Australia Ltd v. The State of Western Australia (1992) 175 CLR 514 Typing Centre of NSW Pty Ltd v. Northern Business College Ltd (1989) ATPR 40-943 FAI General Insurance Co Limited v. RAIA Insurance Brokers Limited (1992) 108 ALR 479 Albion Insurance Company Limited v. Government Insurance Office of New South Wales (1969) 121 CLR 342