21 October 2013

Author may not publish book about organisation of Dutch marine pilots

De Brauw has successfully defended its client Nederlandse loodsencorporatie (NLC) against the cultural anthropologist Dr. Van Oorschot, who threatened to publish a book about the NLC.

The NLC, the organisation of Dutch marine pilots, had commissioned Van Oorschot to write a jubilee book to mark the 25th anniversary of the NLC's privatization. Because the content of the first manuscript felt short of expectations, NLC terminated the commission.

Van Oorschot then decided to self-publish the book, claiming that he owned the copyright and that publication would be of significant public interest. The court hearing the case did not concur with Van Oorschot's arguments and ruled that ownership of copyright in a book does not as such give an author the right to publish that book. The court also ruled that the existence of considerable public interest in a book does not create a right to publish.

Team: Arjan Kleinhout and Paul Tjiam