National Director of Public Prosecutions v Zuma (Mbeki and another
intervening) [2009] 2 All SA 243 ([2009] ZASCA 1; 2009 (2) SA 277)
(SCA) Referred to
325
National Scrap Metal (Cape Town) (Pty) Ltd and another v Murray &
Roberts Ltd and others [2012] ZASCA 47; 2012 (5) SA 300 (SCA)
Referred to
326
PlasconEvans Paints Ltd v Van Riebeeck Paints (Pty) Ltd [1984] 2 All SA
366 ([1984] ZASCA 51; 1984 (3) SA 623) (A) Referred to
325
Thint (Pty) Ltd v National Director of Public Prosecutions and others;
Zuma and another v National Director of Public Prosecutions and others
2008 (12) BCLR 1197 ([2008] ZACC 13; 2009 (1) SA 1) (CC) Referred
to
325
India
Govindan v Gopalakrishna Kone 1955 AIR 391 (Mad) Compared
United Kingdom
317
Baigent and another v The Random House Group Ltd [2007] EWCA Civ
247 Referred to
317
Designers Guild Ltd v Russell Williams (Textiles) Ltd [2001] 1 All ER 700
(HL) Referred to
330
Francis Day & Hunter Ltd and another v Bron (trading as Delmar
Publishing Co) and another [1963] Ch 587; [1963] 2 All ER 16 (CA)
Referred to
318
IPC Media Ltd v HighburyLeisure Publishing Ltd [2004] EWHC 2985
(Ch); [2005] FSR 20 Referred to
327
Judgment
WALLIS JA:
[1] This is a tale of two dictionaries of a type that many South African schoolchildren, present and past, would
recognise. They are bilingual
Page 313 of [2016] 4 All SA 311 (SCA)
AfrikaansEnglish/EnglishAfrikaans dictionaries, the purpose of which is to assist learners using one of English
or Afrikaans as a base to obtain a knowledge and understanding of the other language. Both are relatively
small with no more than 4 000 to 5 000 entries in each language. These reflect a basic vocabulary
incorporating the most commonly used words in each language. Each entry consists of a specific headword1
and identifies the part of speech (noun, verb, adjective etc), or parts of speech,2 of the word; gives the
equivalent word in the other language; and provides a short sentence or sentences illustrating its meaning or
the different shades of meaning that it possesses. If the entry is in respect of an Afrikaans word the sentence
illustrating its meaning will be in Afrikaans and then be translated into English and vice versa.
[2] In point of time the first dictionary to be published was published by a predecessor of the appellant, Media24
Books (Pty) Ltd ("Media24"). It was initially entitled Tweetalige Aanleerderswoordeboek and the first edition was
produced in 1993. It received favourable reviews as being an advance on what had previously been available.
It was republished under the name Pharos Aanleerderswoordeboek vir Skole in 2006. For convenience, I will
refer to it as the Aanleerderswoordeboek.3 The respondent, Oxford University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd
("OUP") published its work, the Oxford AfrikaansEngels/EnglishAfrikaans Skool Woordeboek ( " t h e Oxford
Woordeboek") in 2007. It too received favourable reviews. The two are competitors in the market place.
[3] In October 2011, Media24 commenced preparations for a new bilingual AfrikaansEnglish dictionary to replace
the Aanleerderswoordeboek. It is customary when a publisher decides to do this for it to investigate the market
and examine competing and potentially competing dictionaries in order to decide how to compile its own work
in a manner that will be commercially successful in the target market. Although we were not told specifically
what first provoked suspicion, Media24's employees came to the conclusion, after looking closely at the Oxford
Woordeboek, that to a substantial extent it had been copied from the Aanleerderswoordeboek. After taking legal
advice and undertaking further investigations, using independent experts, it launched proceedings in the
Western Cape Division of the High Court claiming that OUP was guilty of a breach of its copyright in the
Aanleerderswoordeboek and sought interdictory and other relief. Gamble J dismissed the application and
refused leave to appeal. The appeal is with the leave of this Court.
Preparing a dictionary
[4] The preparation of a new dictionary is not a simple matter and involves a substantial amount of planning.
Small basic bilingual dictionaries, such as