Griffith Hack - The overlap between copyright and designs
Griffith Hack discusses the Federal Court decision of Norm Engineering Pty Ltd v Digga Australia Pty Ltd (No.2) [2007] FCA 860 in which Norm Engineering brought proceedings against Digga Australia Pty Ltd for copyright infringement of various drawings of components and assembly drawings of a multi-purpose bucket attachment (used on skid steer earth movement equipment such as bobcats).
- “The greater the need for design to satisfy functional or utilitarian requirements, the more likely that an artistic work will not be considered to be one of artistic craftsmanship. Therefore, designers may not be able to rely upon copyright in some instances.”
- “However, the decision … seems to confuse the issue because the Court found the
copyright was maintained despite a component product in suit being entirely dictated by function.”
Link to Griffith Hack’s Need to Know article