Dr Daniela Simone discusses Copyright and Authorship on Radio 4

How do you prove that you have made a significant enough creative contribution to be a joint author when a collaborative partnership breaks down? This was the position that Julia Kogan found herself in, having co-written the screenplay for award winning film Florence Foster Jenkins, starring Meryl Streep (pictured above) and Hugh Grant. Julia's disagreement with former partner Nicholas Martin resulted in a long-running legal dispute, which has just concluded with her winning her battle to be credited for her part in writing the script. Julia Kogan was joined on Radio 4's Woman's Hour by Dr Daniela Simone, Honorary Lecturer at UCL Faculty of Laws. They discussed with the show's host, Anita Rani, the steps that other collaborators might take to avoid the need for litigation.

Originally, when the film was released in 2016, Nicholas Martin was attributed as the writer, and his claim to sole authorship had been upheld in proceedings before the IP Enterprise Court in 2017. But, as a result of Julia Kogan's appeal, the case was the subject of a retrial before a different judge. In a decision handed down in January this year, the Court upheld her counterclaim against Martin for a declaration that she is joint author, and thus joint owner, of the copyright in the screenplay. 

Dr Simone's recent monograph, Copyright and Collective Authorship: Locating the Authors of Collaborative Work, had been cited by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in the appeal decision, Kogan v Martin [2019] EWCA 1645, which has proved to be the most significant decision concerning the test for joint authorship in UK copyright law to come before the courts in a number of years. Daniela's book, published shortly before the hearing of the appeal, argued that the initial trial judge had incorrectly characterised Kogan’s contribution to the script as non-authorial, and this was echoed by the three Lord Justices of Appeal. Dr Simone's work proposed an inclusive, contextual approach to the joint authorship test, and in its finding, the Court of Appeal appears to have taken significant steps in this direction. 

Listen to the interview here (start time 27mins, 27 seconds).

Read more about the legal battle and lessons for joint authorship here.