Book Review: The Modern Law of Copyright AKA Laddie, Prescott and Vitoria

The latest Laddie, Prescott and Vitoria is available to buy in time for Christmas. Best left under the tree as it will weigh down any stockings! Spread over two bumper volumes this deep dive into copyright law is essential reading for the serious copyright practitioner.

At first glance, the authors list appears to be the whole of 8 New Square, in name order, they are: Michael Tappin QC, Daniel Alexander QC, Charlotte May QC, Adrian Speck QC, Iona Berkeley, Lindsay Lane, James Whyte, Quentin Cregan, Jaani Riordan, Isabel Jamal, Ashton Chantrielle, Maxwell Keay and Tom Jones.

Volume 1 takes you on a full copyright journey from its history and origins to its current international context. The different types of copyright work are considered in detail together with thorny issues such as copyright term. first ownership and assignment, licensing and security. The various exclusive rights are given a chapter each with the communication right no doubt the subject of revision

Volume 1 also includes the table of cases and index.

Volume 2 covers less mainstream issues such as rights in performances, collective licensing, the lending, rental and artist's resale rights. It also looks at moral rights and the overlap with competition law. Volume 2 includes the key bits of legislation that apply to copyright law in the United Kingdom. A very useful resource - just make sure you do some weight lifting to prepare before picking up the book.

No copyright stone has been left unturned. If you have a question about copyright, the answer is highly likely to lie within these pages.

I particularly enjoyed the quotations which are included at the start of many chapters and set the wider context for the chapter. (My personal favourite is the double bill from the start of Chapter 16.) Many of these quotations are from learned judgments including the inevitable quotation from Lord Denning MR - a classic from Rank Film Distributors Ltd v Video Information Centre [1982] 2 AC 380:

"It is, it is a glorious thing, to be a Pirate King," said W. S. Gilbert: but he was speaking of ship pirates. Today we speak of film pirates. It is not a glorious thing to be, but it is a good thing to be in for making money."

What the publishers say

Laddie, Prescott and Vitoria is an authority on all issues that are important to those practising in the field of copyright. The well-respected title is replete with worked examples and in-depth discussions, and it contains all the historical and contextual material needed to ensure practitioners are expertly briefed in this complex and fast-moving area of law. 

This much anticipated fifth edition of Laddie has been fully edited and revised to focus primarily on the law of copyright. The comprehensive new look 2-volume Work has been extensively re-worked to take into account all the latest developments in EU and UK legislation and case law, and developments in technology and content delivery mechanisms since the last edition. The new structure of the Work facilitates easy navigation of the most topical, fast-moving subjects that are important to practitioners.

Key stats
Total pages: 3556 over two volumes
Published: October 24, 2018
ISBN/ISSN: 9781474306898
Rupture factor: law
Health and Safety warning - do not drop on toes!