REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
FINKELSTEIN J
72 The point we have to decide on this appeal lies in a narrow compass, but the matter is of some consequence to the parties. The issue is this. Who is the owner of the copyright in a cinematograph film, being footage taken on a trip to the Kokoda Trail? The judge decided (and his finding is not challenged) that the footage was made by the appellants (collectively "Seven") and Mr Murray, and therefore they were joint owners. In Prior v Lansdowne Press Pty Ltd [1977] VR 65, 68, Gowans J held that co-authors hold copyright as tenants in common rather than as joint tenants and, in the absence of agreement to the contrary, in equal shares. Mr Murray contends that at a meeting held on 11 February 2004 Seven agreed to assign to him absolutely its then future interest (the film was taken the following month) in the copyright. Thus he says he was entitled to authorise the fifth and sixth respondents, production companies, to make from the footage a documentary to be shown in a broadcast by the first respondent, TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd ('Nine'). The judge accepted these contentions. They are challenged on appeal.
73 The dispute arises in the following way. Mr Murray established an organisation called DARE (Discipline And Responsibility Encounter) (sometimes called 'Camp Dare') to assist young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue their goals and dreams. One of the things he does is to arrange residential camps with motivational programs of one kind or another. He is keen to promote DARE as much as possible. He relies heavily on sponsorship and volunteer assistance.
74 Mr Simond is a reporter with 'Today Tonight', a current affairs program produced and broadcast by Seven. In 2003, Mr Simond was approached by Mr Murray and asked to do a segment on DARE. Mr Simond agreed and arranged for a film to be shot of a DARE camp. A segment was later shown on 'Today Tonight'. Before the program went to air Mr Murray sent an email to Seven expressing his gratitude. The email went on: 'Oh just wanted to ask, is it possible to get a copy of the footage shot at Camp DARE, I just want to put together a promo video to send out to high schools, Adam the camera man said he had 7 hours of footage, it would be a great help, I won't tell anyone!' Following the broadcast Seven sent Mr Murray a tape of the program in the form it had been broadcast. Mr Murray used the tape to promote DARE.
75 At the beginning of October 2003 Mr Murray hit upon the idea of taking a group of students from Punchbowl Boys' High School, an underprivileged school whose students are largely drawn from the Muslim Lebanese community, on a trip to the Kokoda Trail. He contacted Mr Simond and told him of the idea. He wanted to know whether Seven would film the trip for a special documentary that might be broadcast on Anzac Day. Mr Simond expressed interest, at least for a short segment to be shown.
76 A meeting to discuss the proposal was arranged for 11 February, attended by Mr Murray and his two advisers, Mr Townhill (an accountant) and Mr Watt (a corporate consultant), and representatives of Seven, including Mr Simond and Mr McPherson, the executive producer of 'Today Tonight'. Before the meeting, Mr Murray discussed the proposal with Mr Townhill and Mr Watt. Mr Townhill suggested that Mr Murray obtain written confirmation from Seven that DARE was to retain ownership of any footage shot on the trip because of its importance 'as a fund raising asset for Camp DARE'. Mr Townhill made a note of this conversation on his personal computer. The note reads: 'C7 written commitment confirmation of DARE ownership of rights. Today Tonight. BM'.
77 Strictly speaking the evidence of this conversation and the note was inadmissible. The common law rule (which has not been changed by the Evidence Act 1995 (Cth)) is that self-serving statements are inadmissible to support the credibility of a witness: Jones v South-Eastern and Chatham Railway Company's Managing Committee (1918) 87 LJKB 775, 779; R v Connolly [1991] 2 Qd R 171, 173-174. The rationale for the prohibition is that it presents a person with the opportunity of creating false evidence. In any event, self-serving evidence usually has little probative value. There are exceptions to the rule. One exception is where the evidence forms part of the res gestae. It will be part of the res gestae if the statement is made contemporaneously with and directly concerning an event in issue: Adelaide Chemical & Fertilizer Co Ltd v Carlyle (1940) 64 CLR 514, 524-526, 530; Teper v The Queen [1952] AC 480, 487; Ratten v The Queen [1972] AC 378, 389. This is not the situation here. The judge relied on Mr Townhill's note but was in error in doing so. In any event, even if the note were admissible it is not clear (because his evidence is ambiguous) whether Mr Townhill told Mr Murray that he should ask for rights over the footage for 'fund raising' purposes. If he had, that would support Seven's case.
78 Returning to the narrative, we now come to the all-important meeting of 11 February. It lasted just over one hour. Things were agreed. There was some argument that it was not possible to identify the contracting parties. This is fanciful. Whatever was agreed was between Seven and Mr Murray. On this finding, it is common ground that Mr McPherson agreed that Seven would send two men (a cameraman and a sound recordist) to film the expedition on the basis that the fares, accommodation and expenses of the men were covered by Mr Murray. It is also common ground (at any rate, it was so found by the judge) that Mr McPherson committed Seven to broadcasting a piece on the expedition on 'Today Tonight'. He did not, however, commit Seven to broadcasting the documentary that Mr Murray was looking for.
79 There was a short discussion about the 'rights' to the footage. The discussion took place toward the end of the meeting. There is no doubt something was agreed. It is necessary to decide precisely what was agreed. To undertake that task I will consider the respondents' case in its most favourable light. That is, I will determine what was agreed solely by reference to the respondents' account of the negotiations, save to the extent that this account was rejected by the judge.
80 On the respondents' side there are only two witnesses who gave relevant evidence, Mr Murray and Mr Watt. This is what Mr Murray said:
'Q: Now could you continue on with the - after discussion of the logistics and what you've said about you pressing for a longer program what else was said in the course of the meeting? A: I asked - Craig McPherson said well look, once it goes to air I want their footage because, you know, we want to be able to promotional stuff for Camp Dare and, you know, DVDs and, you know, sort of as we see fit and he sort of looked at Chris Simond and said well I can't see a problem with that.
Q: Do you recall anything particularly about Mr McPherson looked at Mr Simond at the time? A: Yes, he was a very cool character and he sort of put his hand on his head like this and sort of swung his chair around at Chris Simond and said, 'I can't see a problem with that' and then sort of swung back to us.
Q: Now did anyone else then on behalf of Camp Dare raise the issue of the footage? A: Certainly. Again as the meeting went on more logistics was discussed and I panned out the scenarios that will happen but -
…
HIS HONOUR: The logistics, for example, you should tell us about that? A: Right. Well, I went on to explain that we'd got boots, socks, sporting undergarments to stop them chafing, line-breaks, you know, pants, shirts, the whole kit. Black Wolf had donated $14,500 worth of backpacks and sleeping bags and tents, single man tents for everyone. So I told them look we'd supply that and then Kevin Watt chimed in at that point and said, "So once it goes to air Camp Dare will have the rights to use the footage for promotional purposes and, you know, as we see fit" and Craig McPherson said, "Yes, no problem, once it goes to air, no problem".'
The judge accepted most of this evidence. He did reject one important aspect. He did not accept the assertion that Mr Watt said that DARE should be able to use the footage 'as we see fit'.
81 Then there is the evidence of Mr Watt. What follows is from his evidence in chief:
'Q: And can you give us the effect of what he [Mr McPherson] said on that topic, Mr Watt? A: He said that Channel Seven will send the cameraman and the sound man on the Kokoda but there was no mention of any other funds coming forward from him. He just said that we will do that.
Q: You indicated that after that you said something to Mr McPherson. Just go back to that and tell us what you said to Mr McPherson once he said what you have just mentioned? A: I said to him that Camp Dare would like the rights to the tape and the footage after they have used it on Today Tonight.
Q: And did he say something in response to that? A: It was a simple "Yeah, okay, no problem".
Q: Now, was there - could you just continue on with the meeting? What else do you recall being said in the course of that meeting after that had been said? A: One of the things that - I stood up and said to him - I don't know whether I stood up - but I said to him that "The amount of tape footage you're going to get from us is going to be much more than you can use in a Today Tonight show." I said, "You're going to get perhaps a mountain of fodder for various TV programs."
Q: Yes. Continuing on, after that was there any further reference to the film or the footage? A: No.'
Mr Watt was cross-examined. It was put to him that all he had requested of Seven was the right to use the footage for promotional purposes. He rejected this suggestion. He said that he had made no reference to use for promotional purposes. When asked by the judge: 'You are sure?', Mr Watt responded: 'I am sure that I didn't refer to it, it was unconditional, there were no conditions from either party.' In the light of the judge's findings (which I will come to shortly), it is clear that he did not accept this part of Mr Watt's evidence.
82 The Kokoda trip took place between 1 and 9 March 2004. The Seven crew (cameraman and sound recordist) went on the trip and recorded about thirty hours of footage with accompanying sound. 'Today Tonight' screened a segment of the expedition on 23 April 2004 with a follow-up segment on 26 April 2004, showing World War II veterans meeting the schoolboys who attended the trip. Seven did not produce a documentary.
83 There are matters that occurred after the trip that may help explain what agreement was reached during the February conversation. As things presently stand Anglo-Australian law does not allow reference to what the parties to a contract said and did before or after the contract as an aid to construction: James Miller & Partners Ltd v Whitworth Street Estates (Manchester) Ltd [1970] AC 583; L Schuler AG v Wickman Machine Tool Sales Ltd [1974] AC 235; Secured Income Real Estate (Australia) Limited v St Martins Investments Proprietary Limited (1979) 144 CLR 597; FAI Traders Insurance Company Ltd v Savoy Plaza Pty Ltd [1993] 2 VR 343. The fear is that this approach could result in a contract having different meanings on different days. The rule does not, however, prevent the reception of pre-contract conduct (White v Australian and New Zealand Theatres Limited (1943) 67 CLR 266) or post-contract conduct (Australian Estates Ltd v Palmer (unreported, New South Wales Court of Appeal, Kirby P, Samuels and Meagher JJA, 22 December 1989)) to identify the things with which the contract does deal. The matters to which I will now refer provide this kind of assistance.
84 In early May 2004, Mr Murray telephoned Mr Simond and told him that he was planning to conduct a camp at Soldiers Beach on the Central Coast. He invited Seven to film the event. Mr Simond agreed. During the course of the conversation Mr Murray said: '[O]h, by the way, this stuff [the Kokoda expedition] has gone to air now, can we have the tapes?' Mr Simond responded: 'Yes, I will talk to Craig [McPherson] about it.' In due course Mr Simond went to Soldiers Beach for the filming. During a break he called Mr Murray to his [Mr Simond's] car and said: 'My friend … I come bearing gifts.' He then opened the car door, took out the tapes containing the footage and handed them to Mr Murray. Mr Murray's response was: '[M]an, I can't believe you have given me these, well done, good luck.' In cross-examination he acknowledged that he also said to Mr Simond: 'I want the tapes for a DVD to send out to potential sponsors.'
85 On the basis of this evidence the judge made the following findings:
'(1) That provision of the Camera Tapes by Seven to DARE was raised separately by Murray and by Watt.
(2) That the reason advanced by Murray for the request was use by DARE of the Camera Tapes for promotional purposes and there was no mention of any other particular proposed use. I am not satisfied that there was an express reference to any general discretion to use the Camera Tapes as DARE saw fit or that, if mentioned, it was heard, understood or accepted by McPherson.
(3) That Watt raised the topic after Murray and that he referred in that context to DARE financing the expedition and paying all the expenses for Shannon and Lynch.
(4) That Watt referred to rights as well as the physical tapes. He had planned to do so in advance.
(5) That McPherson unequivocally committed Seven to providing the only copy of the Camera Tapes to DARE once whatever program or programs that Seven chose to broadcast had gone to air without any express limitation as to the use of the Camera Tapes by DARE.'
The result, according to the judge, was that Seven promised it would assign to Mr Murray the copyright in the footage when it came into existence. The doctrine of Holroyd v Marshall(1862) 10 HL Cas 191 would take care of the rest.
86 The judge did not ignore the statement made from time to time by Mr Murray about the use of the footage for promotional purposes. As to this, the judge said that: 'The statement on the part of DARE about the purpose for use being promotional was representational (and had an influence as such) rather than promissory. It was not a term or condition of the agreement to transfer title.' The judge is saying that the statement induced the agreement but did not achieve the status of a warranty. This is an unlikely but possible result: Dick Bentley Productions Ltd v Harold Smith (Motors) Ltd [1965] 1 WLR 623, 627; Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Mardon [1976] QB 801.
87 The general approach taken by the judge adopts 'top-down' reasoning. He inquired whether copyright had been assigned (and found that it had) and then investigated whether there was any exception to an absolute assignment. I would prefer a 'bottom-up' approach and determine precisely what has been given over.
88 In deciding exactly what has been agreed, we are confined to an examination of what the parties said and did. This examination is to be approached from the perspective of the reasonable person, who previously only had work in torts cases. What would the reasonable person think the parties meant?
89 The discussion between the parties must be understood in the following context. I have already mentioned that the judge found that the footage was jointly owned by Seven and Mr Murray. He reached this conclusion in the following way. Copyright in a cinematograph film lies with the maker of the film: Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), s 98(1). The maker is 'the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the making of the film were undertaken': s 22(4). Mr Murray made the arrangements for the Kokoda expedition. The trip was filmed by Seven personnel. So, according to the judge, each was a maker of the film. This finding is probably incorrect, but was not challenged on appeal. Notwithstanding the finding of joint ownership, it is clear that at the meeting the discussion proceeded upon the assumption that the footage of the trip would, in the absence of some agreement to the contrary, belong to Seven. If anyone had turned their mind to the ownership of copyright (it is possible that Mr Townhill had copyright in mind but he made no mention of it), it seems also to have been assumed that copyright would belong to Seven.
90 Turning then to what the parties said, the first thing the reasonable person would think having observed the discussion is that the parties implicitly agreed (that is the observer would be required to presume the existence of the agreement, for the topic was not discussed) that Seven could use the film for a program to be broadcast to the public through its network. Mr Murray wanted this broadcast to be a one-hour special program but even if it were not, the reasonable observer would implicitly understand that Seven could broadcast whatever section of the film it saw fit. In legal terms, the joint owners of the copyright, Seven and Mr Murray, conferred a licence on Seven to do an act that would otherwise be in breach of their jointly owned copyright.
91 It is equally clear that Mr Murray was given some 'right'. What was the nature of that right? The proper approach is to examine what right Mr Murray requested. He asked for nothing more than to be given the footage so that he could use it for promotional purposes. He had made a similar request in the past. He confirmed in May 2004 that this is what he was seeking. Mr McPherson agreed to give Mr Murray what he wanted. Nothing that has been attributed to Mr McPherson can be taken by our reasonable observer as a promise to give Mr Murray any more than he had requested. Another way of looking at it is this. In negotiating a contract the language used by the parties is often imprecise. Then it is the duty of the court to give a common sense meaning to the words used: Antaios Compania Naviera S.A. v Salen Rederierna A.B. [1985] AC 191. The court's duty is to separate the 'purposive sheep from the literalist goats': Summit Investment Inc v British Steel Corporation (The 'Sounion') [1987] 1 Lloyd's Reps 230, 235. The sheep must win the day.