Former
business associates Australians Ian Burden and Craig Morrow duked it out in a
legal dispute over copyright in Burden’s Irish
Coast line of distressed furniture. ESR
Group importing Morrow’s competing Roseberry
Collection had its imports blocked by Customs as “pirated” copies of Irish Coast. The High Court ordered ESR Group to disclose
names of its customers previously buying or ordering items of the seized
furniture.
Irish
Coast retails as rustic
tongue and groove furniture assembled from recycled timber. Just over 1800 units were sold in New Zealand
over the last six years. In 2013 Mr
Burden filed a copyright notice with Customs claiming Copyright Act rights in
respect of his product line: Irish Coast.
Acting on this notice, Customs seized an ESR Group Ltd importation of Roseberry Collection as potentially
pirated product. High Court litigation
followed.
Evidence was given that Mr Burden drew on
the history of Irish furniture-making in naming his product line. In times of timber shortage, furniture was
constructed out of driftwood, offcuts and recycled timber. To accommodate timbers of different densities
and moisture levels, construction uses tongue and groove fitting with components
secured by jointed end pieces. Irish Coast furniture is manufactured in
Vietnam using technical drawings based on Mr Burden’s original drawings. Staff from Vietnam gave evidence that they
saw similar furniture being offered for sale in Vietnam under the brand Roseberry Collection.
Mr Burden claimed copyright in his
original drawings, alleging Roseberry
Collection is a three-dimensional representation of his copyright. Both New Zealand and Australia are parties to
an international copyright convention allowing Australian citizens to sue in
New Zealand courts to enforce copyright.
Justice Duffy ruled there was an element of originality in the
construction, appearance and detailing of Irish
Coast furniture to support copyright in the original drawings. Mr Burden and Mr Morrow were business
associates in Vietnam at the time Mr Burden was developing his Irish Coast collection. During the High Court hearing, Mr Morrow was
present in New Zealand to give evidence on behalf of importer ESR Group. He left the country, without giving evidence,
the day he was expected in court.
Justice Duffy said this sudden departure counted against ESR Group in
trying to explain why its imported product line looked so similar to Irish Coast.
Justice Duffy ruled items of the Roseberry Collection furniture seized by
Customs are pirated copies of Mr Burden’s product and ordered ESR Group to
disclose the volumes of furniture it had imported and to identify all
purchasers.
Burden
v. ESR Group – High Court (7.07.16)
16.106