Posted: December 27th, 2015

Is the Taste of Italy website, including the slogan, protected by copyright law?

To promote his business Ming decides to design a website. He had trouble coming up with ideas for the content and layout, so he had a look to see what other restaurant websites looked like. Inspired by some of these websites Ming was able to design his own. .

Ming has since been contacted by Bella, the proprietor of ‘Taste of Italy’, who claims that Ming has copied her website, specifically the colour scheme, the font and the menu design. Bella also claims that he has copied the slogan ‘Buon Appetito – Smile on Your Cheeko’ from her website.

Ming insists that he did not deliberately copy the ‘Taste of Italy’ website; although it was one of the websites he looked at when he was planning his own.

• Is the Taste of Italy website, including the slogan, protected by copyright law?

[2 marks]

• If so, explain how Ming has infringed Bella’s copyright?

[3 marks]

• What remedy (remedies) is Bella seeking?