FBT Productions, LLC v Let Them Eat Vinyl Distribution Ltd
Decision date: 20 April 2021
Neutral citation: [2021] EWHC 932 (IPEC)
Overall AI summary confidence: high
Short overview
This short overview is intended to summarise the case, issues and outcome so far as they are supported by the judgment.
AI confidence in this short overview: high
FBT sued Let Them Eat Vinyl (LTEV) for copyright infringement for making/supplying vinyl copies of Eminem's Infinite. The court found LTEV had infringed but rejected FBT's claims that the infringement caused abandonment of a planned vinyl re-issue and that FBT would have granted LTEV a licence; instead damages were awarded on a notional licence of £2.50 per disc for 2,981 copies, totaling £7,452.50 plus interest.
Ratio decidendi
This summary is intended to identify the ratio decidendi, meaning the legal reasons for deciding and the binding part of the decision.
AI confidence in this ratio decidendi summary: medium
The judgment applies lost-opportunity causation principles: a claimant must prove on the balance of probabilities that the defendant’s tort caused the loss of a trading opportunity, and where planning continuity is weak or multiple unauthorised copies exist causation may fail. For quantum, where a lost-licence claim fails, damages may be assessed by reference to a notional licence using market-specific comparables and expert evidence that reflect the commercial realities of the specific format and market.
Obiter dicta
This summary is intended to identify obiter dicta, meaning observations made by the way that were not necessary to deciding the case and are not binding.
AI confidence in this obiter dicta summary: medium
The judge observed that digital revenue splits (e.g. 90/10) are not necessarily comparable to physical vinyl licensing because of different manufacturing and distribution economics, and that authenticity markers on re-issues can affect substitutability and market impact analyses; these comments were offered as points of commercial context rather than dispositive holdings.