“Totepool Pool Non-runners and Withdrawals Totepool Pool OFF (Actual Pool off time) Totepool Pool Void Race Totepool Betting Suspended Weighed in Message Totepool Pool Official Pool Result (Number and Position) Totepool Pool UK Tote Dividends Totepool Pool Amended Pool Result SP Favourite Number, if joint or co-fav then lowest racecard number Subject to further agreement the following may be available: Status of meeting, i.e. On, abandoned Status of races, i.e. On, abandoned Going status of the meeting, i.e. good, standard.”
“…to acquire copyright the author must have expended a sufficient amount of labour, judgment, literary skill or other such quality. What will be sufficient in any particular case is a question of degree and will depend upon the work produced and all the circumstances of the case. However the courts are not astute to enable one man to appropriate, without payment, the fruits of another's labours (see Ladbroke supra at p.291). I must therefore consider the production of … the dividend forecasts and decide whether sufficient labour, judgment and skill were used so as to render them original literary works.”
“BAGS submitted that each BAGS forecast dividend embodied sufficient skill, labour and judgment to be the subject of literary copyright. It also submitted that it was proper to take into account the skill, labour and judgment used in deriving the formula. If that last submission is right, I agree with the submission of BAGS. If it is not, I do not believe that every time the calculation is done, race by race, day by day, year by year, a new copyright work is produced. Once the formula was derived and the starting prices are known, it is pure routine work to arrive at the dividend.”
“I have already indicated that I do not believe that once the formula was derived, sufficient skill, labour and judgment is used when calculating the dividends from the starting prices supplied to acquire copyright. It is a repetitive job requiring a certain amount of education and thereafter a meagre amount of labour. Further I cannot believe that the person who, day after day, year after year, does the calculation is producing what the statute calls “an original literary work”
“the test of infringement is whether the defendant has taken a substantial part of the claimant’s own work.”
“In the case of a map of a newly-discovered island … he must go through the whole process of triangulation just as if he had never seen any former map, and, generally, he is not entitled to take one word of the information previously published without independently working out the matter for himself, so as to arrive at the same result from the same common sources of information, and the only use that he can legitimately make of a previous publication is to verify his own calculations and results when obtained.”
“I do not understand the Claimants’ case to be that SIS is “copying” or “heavily relying” on TRP prices. I am instructed that the Claimants contend that SIS needed to refer routinely to the TRP Show Prices to ensure that the prices SIS supplied to bookmakers were the same as, or very similar to, the TRP Show Prices.”
“SIS’s traders referred routinely to the PA Betting Shows on Oddschecker when creating SIS Betting Shows for TRP Races in order to minimise differences between the SIS Prices and the TRP Prices”
“These Conditions apply to all persons entering the Racecourse. If you attend the Racecourse in any capacity other than as a private individual, you must also agree to a set of Special Conditions which will apply in addition to the Conditions.”
“4.6 No Ticket gives any Attendee any right to receive, use or exploit any racing data, audio, visual or audio-visual coverage of any race or fixture. All such rights are reserved. Any coverage or data made available at the Racecourse is made available for the personal use and consumption of Attendees only and redistribution to any person outside the Racecourse is strictly prohibited.” “10.1 You shall not use any device or technology to capture, record, store, transmit or broadcast any data relating to any race, fixture or other race-related activity unless you are expressly permitted to do so by Condition 10.4.” (Clause 10.4 permitted mobile devices for personal use.) “10.2 In particular, you must not capture, record, store, transmit (including live stream): … (d) any data relating to any race … e.g., odds, Going, colours and colour changes, jockey changes, results…” (Clause 10.3 stated that the list in 10.2 was indicative of the types of activity prohibited, but not an exhaustive list.) “10.6 Unless specifically permitted by these Conditions, you shall not use mobile telephones or any other communications device while on the Racecourse to communicate with anyone outside the Racecourse for the purpose of or in connection with any betting.”
“Attendees will only be required to comply with, and will only be entitled to any of the rights and privileges set out in, the following Special Conditions where specifically and expressly admitted to the Racecourse on the basis of one or more of the categories of Special Condition.”
“…Media Attendees will not be entitled to exercise any rights to, or to produce and exploit, audio/visual/data coverage of races and fixtures on their own behalf or for any purpose other than that permitted under the Third Party Media Agreement.”
“The point of which one should never lose sight is that OK! had paid$1m for the benefit of the obligation of confidence imposed upon all those present at the wedding in respect of any photographs of the wedding. That was quite clear. Unless there is some conceptual policy reason why they should not have the benefit of that obligation, I cannot see why they were not entitled to enforce it. And in my opinion there are no such reasons. Provided that one keep’s one’s eye firmly on the money and why it was paid, the case is, as Lindsay J held, quite straightforward.”
“What matters is that the Douglases, by the way they arranged their wedding, were in a position to impose an obligation of confidence. They were in control of the information.”
“But I see no reason why there should not be an obligation of confidence for the purpose of enabling someone to be the only source of publication if that is something worth paying for.”
“The data necessary to take and settle bets has to get into the public domain at some point at which point anyone can collect it and use it but it is not clear whether we (or anyone else) can source the data quickly enough to be useful to bookmakers.”
“It seems to me that if the circumstances are such that any reasonable man standing in the shoes of the recipient of the information would have realised that upon reasonable grounds the information was being given to him in confidence, then this should suffice to impose upon him the equitable obligation of confidence. In particular, where information of commercial or industrial value is given on a business-like basis and with some avowed common object in mind, such as a joint venture or the manufacture of articles by one party for the other, I would regard the recipient as carrying a heavy burden if he seeks to repel a contention that he was bound by an obligation of confidence: see the Saltman case at page 216.” ii) The case referred to by Megarry J in that passage was Saltman Engineering Co Ltd v Campbell Engineering Co Ltd(1948) 65 RPC 203 , in which confidential drawings were provided by P to D, for the purpose of D manufacturing certain tools. The Court of Appeal held that it was an implied term of the contract between P and D that the drawings entrusted to D for the purposes of the contract should be treated as confidential, and that it was a breach of that contract for D to use the drawings to manufacture other tools and sell them for its own account. Even if there had been no contract, however, the Court of Appeal concluded, obiter, that an obligation of confidence was placed on D and their use of the drawings for their own account was similarly a breach of that equitable obligation of confidence. Lord Greene MR, at p.216, said: “It seems to me that it would not matter the least bit whether there was a contract or whether there was not a contract. I find as a fact, without hesitation, that there was a contract; but, contract or no contract, the Defendants got those drawings into the hands knowing, or knowing shortly afterwards, that they belonged to Saltmans, that they were obviously confidential matter, and they knew that they had got them into their hands for a strictly limited purpose. How on that basis they could say that the fact that there was no contract released them from any obligation of confidence, I do not know…”
“…we do know that … both issues (data delivery for TRP and the FRB situation) demonstrate clearly that ARC and TRP are very determined to control all the data for their events and we can expect them to make it very difficult for companies like SIS to provide data only products on their races.”
“I know that Paul and Rachel have already been researching this and have already had discussions with Phil Siers. I have been rather pessimistic about the opportunity so far because of the perceived legal risk. After talking it through with Joe and Phil today I am somewhat more comfortable because they are offering us Tote data (“Tote Off”; “Tote results”; “Tote NonRunners”) and are not offering official race-day data. Apparently the Tote versions are usually very similar or the same as the official data but there are some minor differences … They are also taking into account there are no detailed contracts in place between racecourses and the Tote, probably because of its roots as a government franchise. Please can we schedule some time to discuss this to decide whether to proceed?”
“…he may not wish to provide it … the only issue for us is that he carries the can…”
“… I am always nervous dealing with Phil Siers – your scenario two is a very real possibility. Do we have anyone else involved in the tote data feed arrangements from bet Fred? Joe Scanlon for example?”
“We understand that SIS has been using the Betdaq Data purely as an internal reference tool only, in conjunction with various other sources of information and data, together with the knowledge and skill of SIS’s employees, to support SIS in the provision of services to its customers. We confirm that we consider such use, as described in this letter, to be in accordance with the terms of the agreement.”
“In my opinion your Lordships should clarify the law by holding that criminal conduct (at common law or by statute) can constitute unlawful means, provided that it is indeed the means (what Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead in OBG Ltd v Allen[2008] 1 AC 1 , para 159 called “instrumentality”) of intentionally inflicting harm. In Lonrho Ltd v Shell Petroleum Co Ltd (No 2)[1982] AC 173 , the sanctions order against Southern Rhodesia was part of the story, but it was not the instrument for the intentional infliction of harm.”
“Caution is nonetheless necessary about the scope of the tort of conspiracy by unlawful means. Not every criminal act committed in order to injure can or should give rise to tortious liability to the person injured, even where the element of conspiracy is present. The pizza delivery business which obtains more custom, to the detriment of its competitors, because it instructs its drivers to ignore speed limits and jump red lights (Lord Walker in OBG Ltd v Allan[2008] 1 AC 1 , para 266) should not be liable, even if the claim be put as a claim in conspiracy involving its drivers and directors. And - as in relation to the tort of causing loss by unlawful means inflicted on a third party - there is a legitimate objection to making liability “depend upon whether the defendant has done something which is wrongful for reasons which have nothing to do with the damage inflicted on the claimant” per Lord Hoffmann in OBG Ltd v Allan, at para 59.”
“But in this case, there was no third party. The means used by the conspirators were directed at the claimants themselves. This is a case where the claimants were persuaded by the unlawful means to act to their own detriment which, in para 61 of OBG, Lord Hoffmann said raises altogether different issues. One has to ask why, in this situation, the law should not provide a remedy … The situation that is contemplated is that of loss caused by an unlawful act directed at the claimants themselves.”
“Conspiracy being a tort of primary liability, the question what constitute unlawful means cannot depend on whether their use would give rise to a different cause of action independent of the conspiracy. The real test is whether there is a just cause or excuse for combining to use unlawful means. That depends on (i) the nature of the unlawfulness and (ii) its relationship with the resultant damage to the claimant. This was the position reached by the House of Lords in [Total Network]”
“The reasoning in Total Network leaves open the question how far the same considerations apply to non-criminal acts, such as breaches of civil statutory duties, or torts actionable at the suit of third parties, or breaches of contract or fiduciary duty. These are liable to raise more complex problems. Compliance with the criminal law is a universal obligation. By comparison, legal duties in tort or equity will commonly and contractual duties will always be specific to particular relationships. The character of these relationships may vary widely from case to case. They do not lend themselves so readily to the formulation of a general rule. Breaches of civil statutory duties give rise to yet other difficulties. Their relevance may depend on the purpose of the relevant statutory provision, which may or may not be consistent with its deployment as an element in the tort of conspiracy. For present purposes it is unnecessary to say anything more about unlawful means of these kinds.”
“The answer lies in keeping firmly in mind that, in these threeparty situations, the function of the tort is to provide a remedy where the claimant is harmed through the instrumentality of a third party. That would not be so in the patent example.”
“Take the case of a patent. A manufacturer seeks to steal a march on his rival by employing a novel, patented process. In order to sell his product more cheaply, he does so without paying any licence fee to the owner of the patent. By means of this patent infringement he undercuts his law-abiding rival. He has damaged his rival’s business by an unlawful means. But this conduct, however reprehensible, cannot afford the rival manufacturer a cause of action for damages for interference with trade by unlawful means. Parliament has specified the nature and extent of the remedies available for infringement of patents. Remedial relief for infringement of a patent is available to patentees and exclusive licensees. It would be inconsistent with the statutory scheme if the common law tort were to afford a remedy more widely.”
“The essence of conspiracy is the co-operation of the minds of the conspirators in pursuance of the unlawful design. A person could never be liable for conspiracy, either in a civil or in a criminal court, if he had no knowledge that the design was unlawful.”
“If all the facts which make the transaction unlawful were known to the parties, as I think they were, ignorance of the law will not excuse them”, citing Churchill v Walton[1967] 2 AC 224 , 227, a decision of the House of Lords concerning a criminal conspiracy. Walton LJ, at pp.414-415 agreed: “a person is a party to a conspiracy if he knows the essential facts to constitute that conspiracy even though he does not know that they constitute an offence.”
“In this case the defendants envisaged that when FP exercised the power of sale Britel would lose its right to the development sublease. However, as I have explained, they were advised and believed that the exercise of the power of sale would overreach Britel’s rights to the development sublease. This was an inevitable result of the arrangements to which Britel agreed. The mere fact that Mr Tamimi or FP intended that result to occur does not mean that they had the intention to case harm for the purposes of the tort of inducing breach of contract. All they intended to do was to produce a result which they believed, as a result of the contractual arrangements between ACP, FP and Britel, that they were entitled to produce.”
“It follows therefore that it is not enough that there is an intention to do an act which in fact causes loss. That act must be done with the intention that it will cause loss. In the present case Mr Hawkins gave advice that the leaseback option would be overreached. That advice was inconsistent with an intention to cause harm to Britel. Nor was there any intention to prevent performance of any residual liability in damages. In those circumstances, in my judgment, the requirement as to intention was not satisfied in the case of any defendant.” 265.Toulson LJ, at [174] of Meretz, said the following: “Although my conclusion on the issue of unlawful means makes it unnecessary to decide the point, I would support Arden LJ's view, at para 127, that it is a defence to an action for conspiracy to injure by unlawful means if the defendant not only acted to protect his own interests but did so in the belief that he had a lawful right to act as he did. Just as the tort of conspiracy to induce breach of contract is not committed if the defendant believes that the outcome sought by him will not involve a breach of contract (the Mainstream case[2005] IRLR 964 ), so a defendant should not be liable for conspiracy to injure by unlawful means if he believes that he has a lawful right to do what he is doing. This is consistent with Lord Hoffmann's comment in the OBG case[2008] 1 AC 1 , para 56, when considering the tort of causing injury by unlawful means, that the common law in this area is designed only to enforce basic standards of civilised behaviour.”
“But for the decision of the Court of Appeal in British Industrial Plastics Ltd v Ferguson, I might have been prepared to hold that I was bound by the ratio of Belmont and I should follow that ratio notwithstanding the obiter dicta in Meretz . However, in view of what was said by the Court of Appeal in British Industrial Plastics Ltd v Ferguson together with the dicta in the Court of Appeal in Meretz, my conclusion is that a judge at first instance ought to follow what is clearly stated by Toulson LJ in Meretz at [174].”
“A conspiracy consists not merely of the intention of two or more, but in the agreement of two or more to do an unlawful act, or to do a lawful act by unlawful means.”
“the cooperation of the minds of the conspirators in pursuance of the unlawful design.”
“Once one reaches the conclusion that the defendants combined to steal from their employer by whatever means might present themselves, the question in relation to any particular scheme or enterprise in which only one or some of them can be shown to have directly participated is whether that enterprise fell within the overall scope of their common design. If several people agree to enable each other to steal from their employer, lending their support in different ways at different times and taking different shares of the proceeds (or even each retaining for himself what he takes), each of them is party to the agreement pursuant to which all the thefts take place. In those circumstances there is in my judgment no need for each to be fully aware of the circumstances of each theft in order for him to be liable as a conspirator provided that the theft in question falls within the scope of their agreement.”
“When the whole object of the defendants’ action is to capture the plaintiff’s business, their gain must be his loss. How stands the matter then? The divergence disappears. The defendants’ success is the plaintiff’s extinction, and they cannot seek the one without ensuing the other.”
“Lord Sumner is taking the situation where loss to plaintiff must follow from the object of the conspiracy. He was taking the case where the proved facts exclude every other inference. As Lord Nicholls put it, the gain and the loss are inseparably linked.”
“if SIS were to provide an alternative race day data feed at TRP Arena tracks from 1st January to the retail and on line market place but primarily the majors are Totepool legally secure in providing such a feed.”
“just a thought, and its probably obvious, try and get the deal with the Tote on a three-month rolling basis. From my conversation with Mark [Chambers], I think they are considering the possibility of going without TRP for a period of time to drive a better deal with TRP. A deal could be done at anytime, of course, and we don’t want to be left hanging with long term contracts for unwanted TRP material.”
“I have just taken a call from the owner of SR30498 who will be contacting you tomorrow. The 17:30 Wolverhampton race today had No.1 Roy’s Legacy odds differing vastly from TRP’s (PA) prices. I have been told that the trading team use Betfair to provide these prices (shouldn’t mention that to customer) … The same customer also laid a bet last week where the prices were again vastly different to TRP’s prices and this cost him£300 for which I took a lot of abuse from him and other customers. I explained to him that SIS prices are guide prices and not official prices on both occasions but he is not happy [with] the service.”
“after speaking to Adam today, we agree that it would be useful to regularly keep each other updated regarding the issues we are having with our “guide prices”
“Having a former trader compiling shows from Betfair is frankly nuts. Betfair prices bare [sic] no relation to betting shop shows highlighted by the Gabrial [sic] The Thug incident last week when 4/1 was showing on ISIS [a SIS feed] and the TRP price was 3/1 shortening to 5/2. It would be far more sensible to compile prices from a bookmakers website and I suggest Hills would be the obvious choice as they would, I assume, be getting a direct TRP feed…”
“That’s correct we are following the same process as we follow for the other non-SIS tracks which is to provide SIS pricing. However recently there was a negative feedback from some of our customers that the SIS prices weren’t close enough to the official show prices and since then we’ve made more effort to be closer to the shows. This can be dialled up or down…”
“Traders are aware as I spoke to Adam, Matt & David this morning regarding the prices. They informed me that they are under pressure from above not to be the same as TRP ? I said what so similar prices? To which Adam said yes.”
“having monitored you guys for the previous weeks, just thought I would iterate how we should be trading during boards: 30 mins before the first race, or after each preceding race, spend 10 minutes checking all your later races/early prices, then you should be trading the next race explicitly from the exchange prices. You should not be having 365 or any other bookie not taking our prices on screen. Only if you have a dirty each way race should you maybe have odds checker open to do a little comparison to ensure that you are not extremely high on the outsiders. I would advise that over the coming weeks, watch the boards for SIS meetings done from the track and compare how those prices sit against the exchange prices in the margins they are betting too as we should be looking to bet similarly.”