Proprietary Estoppel and Copyright Law
[2018] 29 Kings Law Journal 470-495
27 Pages Posted: 19 Aug 2019 Last revised: 18 May 2020
Dr Poorna Mysoor
University of Oxford, Faculty of Law; University of Cambridge, Lucy Cavendish College
Date Written: December 27, 2018
Abstract
In the copyright context, courts have applied proprietary estoppel to assess whether an implied bare copyright licence has become irrevocable. In doing so, courts have derived principles of proprietary estoppel developed in land law. However, in the land law context, in the last few decades, courts have moved towards a unified approach to proprietary estoppel, resulting in a loss of nuance. In particular, the acquiescence-strand of proprietary estoppel has fallen been neglected in this process of unification. This article argues that in order to do justice in copyright cases, the acquiescence-strand of proprietary estoppel must be resurrected, and the trend in land law towards a unified approach must be reversed, bringing more nuance into the assessment of proprietary estoppel in copyright cases.
Keywords: proprietary estoppel, copyright law, implied licence
JEL Classification: K3
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation