( 1 ) THIS order shall dispose of an application for the grant of ad interim injunction and an application filed by the defendant seeking certain directions to the Local Commissioner in a suit for perpetual injunction restraining the breach of copyright and confidentiality, and for rendition of account, etc.

( 2 ) THE plaintiff is a mail order service company. According to the plaintiff it publishes mail order catalogues dealing with several consumer items which are posted to the select list of the plaintiff s clients. By this method the plaintiff does substantial business. A major investment notably in the business of mail order shopping is the compilation of a list of clientele/customers database which is of essential importance and consequence. The plaintiff has developed a list of clientele/customers database over a period of three years prior to the institution of the suit by investing considerable amount of money and time. The said database is an expensive and gradual process of compilation. The defendant was at one time an employee of the plaintiff. His nature of the duties had nothing to do with the compilation and development of the database. However, on severing relationship with the plaintiff the defendant has established himself as a competitor by entering into mail order shopping business. He has managed to get a copy of the database, an otherwise guarded secret of the plaintiff and has started making use of the same for the purpose of establishing relationship with the plaintiff s customers. It is submitted that the said database is an original `literary work wherein the plaintiff has the copyright and the defendant has infringed the same by his illegal act.

( 3 ) THE defendant has denied all the material plaint averments. It is submitted that the said database is neither developed by the plaintiff nor does he have any copyright therein. It is also submitted by the defendant that he has developed his own database and utilisation thereof does not amount to any infringement of the copyright of the plaintiff.

( 4 ) THE questions which arise for consideration are whether a database consisting of compilation of mailing addresses of customers can be subject matter of a copyright and whether the defendant can be said to have committed infringement of the plaintiff s copyright.

( 5 ) A few provisions of the Copyright Act 1957, as amended by the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1994 ( Act No. 38 of 1994) may be looked into. Section 2 (o) defines `literary work to include (among others) computer programmes, tables and compilations including computer databases. Section 2 (y) defines `work as meaning any of the following works namely: (i) a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, (ii) a cinematographic film, (iii) sound recording. Under section 14, literary work is one of the items wherein exclusive rights can be claimed so as to amount to copyright. Under Section 17 (c) if a work is made in the course of other s employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship it is the employer who is the first owner of the copyright therein in the absence of any agreement to the contrary.

( 6 ) LADDIE, Prescott and Vitoria have stated in THE MODERN LAW OF COPYRIGHT ( 1980 Edn) :

"form in which program or data is expressed 2. 138 If a program or collection of data is first expressed in the form of invisible magnetic patterns on a tape, and still more if in the form of core storage, it is doubtful whether this constitutes `writing within the meaning of the Act. `writing is defined as including `any form of notation, whether by hand or by printing, typewriting or any similar process . Although it is arguable that `notation should be given a wide meaning, there may be some difficulty in accepting that it includes the magnetisation states of an array of rings on wires; and all the concrete instances given in the definition involve visible symbols appreciable directly by humans. However, if the view be correct that