The hedgehog, the fox and copyright - a diversion

dc.contributor.authorHarms, Louis T.C.
dc.date.accessioned2013-10-03T12:19:38Z
dc.date.available2013-12-30T00:20:04Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.description.abstractLord Hoffman, in the context of the expression-ideas dichotomy in copyright law, and while pointing out that originality tends to lie in the detail with which the basic idea is presented, added somewhat enigmatically that copyright law protects foxes better than hedgehogs (Designers Guild Ltd v Russell Williams (Textiles) Ltd 2000 UKHL 58, 2001 FSR 11). The point of this note is that for a lawyer of the common or garden variety, the simile is rather perplexing and its relevance elusive. It is generally assumed that Lord Hoffman had the rather lengthy and learned essay by Berlin, entitled The Hedgehog and the Fox (1953), which is available in book form, in mind. As Berlin's subtitle indicates, the essay is about Tolstoy's view of history based chiefly on an analysis of his War and Peace, one of those books everyone knows of but nobody reads (cf Proust and Joyce). But before dealing with Berlin's use or abuse of the tale of the fox and the hedgehog, let us begin at the beginning.en_US
dc.description.librarianam2013en_US
dc.description.urihttp://www.jutalaw.co.za/catalogue/itemdisplay.jsp?item_id=3648en_US
dc.identifier.citationHarms, LTC 2013, 'The hedgehog, the fox and copyright - a diversion', Journal of South African Law/Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg, no. 3, pp. 513-516.en_US
dc.identifier.issn0257-7747
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/31893
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherJuta Lawen_US
dc.rightsJuta Lawen_US
dc.subjectCopyright lawen_US
dc.subjectExpression-ideas dichotomyen_US
dc.titleThe hedgehog, the fox and copyright - a diversionen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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