Introduction
1.2.As at the liability trial, Jamie Muir Wood appeared for the Claimant (“FBT”) and Richard Colbey for the Defendant (“LTEV”). The trial was held remotely due to the Covid19 pandemic. 3.4.LTEV made 2,891 vinyl copies, all of which were supplied to and distributed by Plastic Head. Distribution of vinyl copies continued until 9 October 2016. Plastic Head also sold CDs obtained from a business known as Boogie Up Productions which was based in the US and run by a Mr David Temkin. Mr Temkin had advised the Defendants that he had the right to license vinyl format copies of the album. 5.On 5 December 2016 FBT's solicitors sent a letter before action to LTEV. On 12 January 2017 Plastic Head withdrew from sale the CD copies of the Work supplied by Boogie Up. Advertising and marketing of the Work by the Defendants came to an end. 6.The Claimant elected an inquiry into damages and now claims damages on three bases: a)the loss of an opportunity to license a third party to exploit the Work (and various tracks comprised in the Work); b)the losses flowing from the licence the Claimant would have offered the Defendant for the exploitation of the Work; or c)a reasonable royalty for the actual sales made by the Defendant based on the notion of a willing licensee/willing licensor negotiation. 7.FBT’s Amended Points of Claim make a claim in respect of 2,000 copies of the Work which it would have sold for US$50. The release of the album would have been preceded by the release a series of 12-inch vinyl singles of remastered tracks from the Work. Each of the singles would have sold for US$20.16, which was chosen to refer to the year 2016. FBT claims that it intended to license a third party to manufacture and sell the new vinyl copies of the Work, retaining 90 per cent of the revenue, matching the split for a digital release it agreed. 8.The Claimant also claimed that it had lost the opportunity to be involved in the making of a full-length documentary about the re-issue of the Work. 9.The total claimed is £288,209, based on the currency conversion rate on 27 August 2020. 10.The parties had agreed a list of issues set out in orders made by HHJ Hacon on 6 March 2020 and 13 January 2021. Those issues centred on the loss of an opportunity, as described above. At trial the issues of loss of a licence fee and a notional royalty were also argued.