Bridgeman Art Library V. Corel Corp. - Relevance To U.K. Law

Relevance To U.K. Law

As a U.S. court case, Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. is not binding upon U.K. courts. However, because it follows dicta in Interlego, and cites Justice Laddie, it serves to raise doubt in U.K. law as to the originality of photographs that exactly replicate other works of art. An additional problem with taking the case as precedent would be reconciling it with the decision in Walter v Lane, given that an analogy can be made between the skills exercised by a journalist in verbatim reporting of a speech and the skills exercised by a photographer in exactly reproducing a work of art. However, Antiquesportfolio.com v Rodney Fitch & Co. also held that a slavish copy, such as re-using a photographic negative, re-photographing a print, or re-creating the effect of an earlier photograph, would not constitute an original work. Similarly, Lord Oliver's dicta in Interlego held that the effort of copying, itself, does not constitute originality.

The significance of the case and the doubts that it raised prompted the private Museums Copyright Group in the U.K. to commission an in-depth report on the case and to seek the opinion of Jonathan Rayner James, Q.C., a barrister who specialized in U.K. copyright law and a co-author of Copinger and Skone James on copyright. Rayner James' opinion, as reported by the group in a press release, was:

s a matter of principle, a photograph of an artistic work can qualify for copyright protection in English law, and that is irrespective of whether the subject of the photographs is more obviously a three dimensional work, such as a sculpture, or is perceived as a two dimensional artistic work, such as a drawing or painting

—Jonathan Rayner James, Press release by Museums Copyright Group (elisions as made by the Museums Copyright Group)

It is, similarly, arguable under U.K. law that the photography of such works, by dint of the lighting and other techniques involved in producing a photograph that renders the work to best photographic effect (possibly better than what would be visible to a person viewing the original painting on display in the relevant museum), would constitute originality, per Liddie, and not merely a "slavish copy".

However, the review of U.K. authorities in the second judgment of Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. does highlight several points in U.K. law. For example, it draws attention to the fact that Graves' Case, dating as it does from 1867, no longer reflects the law of originality in the U.K., in light of later cases such as Interlego.

The Bridgeman Art Library itself stated in 2006 that it is "looking for a similar test case in the U.K. or Europe to fight which would strengthen position".