Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd v Global Gaming Supplies Pty Ltd and Allam [2013] HCA 21
Friday 10 May 2013 @ 12.00 p.m. | IP & Media
In Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd v Global Gaming Supplies Pty Ltd; Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd v Allam [2013] HCA 21; The High Court of Australia has refused special leave to appeal from a copyright evidence based decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia.
The Facts
The respondents were in the business of refurbishing and selling second-hand gaming machines in overseas markets. The applicants alleged that the respondents had infringed their copyright under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) by selling second-hand gaming machines assembled using pirated copies of material in which the applicants held the copyright.
At first instance, a single judge of the Federal Court admitted email communications of the respondents which were used by the primary judge to satisfy the knowledge element of the alleged copyright infringements. The applicants succeeded at first instance.
On appeal, the Full Court held that the primary judge had relied on those email communications to infer that the respondents had a tendency to engage in copyright infringing conduct, thereby satisfying the knowledge element of the alleged infringement. Section 97(1) of the Evidence Act 1995 provides that evidence of a person's tendency to act in a particular way is not admissible to prove that tendency unless reasonable notice is given and the court thinks that the evidence has significant probative value.
The High Court Decision
The applicants applied for special leave to appeal the decisions of the Full Court to the High Court. The High Court held that it was open to the Full Court to characterise the primary judge's reasoning as based upon the discernment of a tendency on the part of the respondents, that the applications did not raise any question of public importance and that the Full Court's decisions were not attended with sufficient doubt to warrant a grant of special leave.
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