Odger's English Common Law

COPYRIGHT. 607
the profits to himself. 1 He may also grant any interest in the
right by licence. "Where however the author is employed by
some one else to write the work, the first copyright is, in the
absence of any agreement, 2 vested in the employer ; but in
the case of "an article or other contribution to a newspaper,
magazine or similar periodical," the employer has the copy-
right only in the original periodical, and the author can
restrain any subsequent reproduction of his work. 3
In order to succeed in an action for the infringement of a
literary copyright, the plaintiff must prove that he is the
present owner of the copyright and that the defendant has
infringed his copyright.
On proof of the above facts the plaintiff has four remedies,
all of which he may pursue concurrently :
(a) An action for an injunction.
(b) An action for damages for the infringement.
(c) An action for detinue for the recovery of pirated copies-
and damages for their detention, or an action of trover for
their conversion, for all infringing copies of any work in
which copyright subsists are deemed to be the property of
the owner of the copyright. 4
(d He may also have the importation of pirated copies
stopped at the Custom House. 5
All such proceedings must be commenced within three
years after the infringement." It is not necessary for the
plaintiff to give direct evidence of any pecuniary loss ; for,
if his work has any literary value, the infringement of it
must do him damage, and, except in the case of an action for
damages, it is not necessary for the plaintiff to establish that
the defendant was aware of the existence of his copyright and
deliberately infringed it.
1 The bankruptcy of the assignee of the copyright will not affect the author's right
to his royalties or share of the profits : Bankruptcy Act, 1914, s. 60.
1 Whether there is or is not such an agreement is a question of fact and not of law ;
it may be implied from the mere facts of employment and payment : Lawrence and
Bullen, Ltd. v. Aftalo, [190i] A. C. 17 (the case of an article in an encyclopaedia).
»S 5 (1) (b).
t S. 7 ; and see Birn Brothers, Ltd. v. Keene $ Co., Ltd., [1918] 2 Ch. 281.
6 gs_ (j g. In addition he may take summary proceedings before justices of the
peace, under's. 11, to have infringements delivered up for destruction and the infringer
punished.
« S. 10*
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