Last week, the Supreme Court of New Zealand issued a landmark ruling on how copyright in artworks should be treated when a couple separates.
Alongside Clive Elliott KC, I represented the artist in this case, arguing that the copyright should remain separate. While the Court ultimately ruled that copyright must be shared, this decision provides much-needed clarity on how intellectual property is handled in the context of relationship property disputes.
A key takeaway from the judgment is that different types of artworks are valued differently. The Court confirmed that copyright is not treated uniformly across all creative works—its value depends on the nature of the artwork itself.
This ruling sets an important precedent for artists and creators generally about how their copyrights interests will be treated in a relationship.
For more details, you can read the [official media release] and [judgment] here.