In our article in Legal Week, 19 July, we considered three recent cases of interest in the field of intellectual property. As we went to press, the Court of Appeal delivered judgment in Ashdown v Telegraph Group 2001 EWCA Civ 1142 (18/7/01). This decision considers the interaction between copyright and the right to freedom of expression provided by Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
At first instance, the vice-chancellor had held that the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) already provided the balance between copyright and freedom of expression required by the Convention and that no further consideration of the effect of Article 10 was required. We ventured to suggest that the impact of Article 10 could not be so readily dismissed.
