Nine kicks IceTV; IceTV kicks ex-staff
An article in the July 2008 issue of Lawyers Weekly makes some interesting observations about principles involved in the case IceTV has brought against me and Duncan Ross. The article, “Innovation put on ice?” by Professor of Law at UNSW Joellen Riley, draws links between two disputes over intellectual property – Nine alleging IceTV infringed their copyright, and IceTV’s subsequent claim that Duncan Ross and I, former IceTV executives, breached “non-compete” agreements.
Professor Riley says: “The upshot of the litigation was that Nine’s insistence on its ownership of copyright in something so mundane and transient as a TV program schedule led – indirectly – to the sterilisation of the talents of two innovators in entertainment media technology for a not-insignificant period of time”.
As this case is still grinding its way through the NSW Supreme Court after more than a year, I will not comment on the details of the case but I found the article exceptionally thought provoking.
You can read the whole article here : Innovation put on ice?