It is quite common to find pleadings in which a co-defendant or co-claimant refers to the pleading filed by the other co-defendant or co-claimant for the sake of procedural economy and to avoid unnecessary repetition.
Up to this point, this practice is acceptable. However, there are those who go so far as to reproduce part of the pleading of the other party resulting in a literal copy, with a mere reference to the original writing.
This is what happened in the case resolved by the Valencia Provincial Court, in its judgment of January 9, 2024, in a case in which the lawyer of one of the defendants reproduced in her pleading, the legal grounds of the pleading previously filed by the lawyer of another co-defendant.
After the complete dismissal of the claim in the first instance, the Valencia Provincial Court considers that the pleading deserves to be protected as a work, as it can be perfectly subsumed within the provisions of article 10 of the Copyright Law. Furthermore, it is an original work insofar as its elaboration is the result of a process of successive and complex decisions, where the character of the professional is perceptible, giving rise to an original selection and composition.
Considering the pleading as a work protected by copyright, the Court understands that the fact that it is reproduced in the subsequent pleading cannot be covered by the limitation regarding quotations, not only because of the length reproduced, approximately 50 pages, but also because the reproduction was made without any critical purpose.
Therefore, it declared the existence of a copyright infringement and sentenced jointly and severally the lawyer and the law firm to which she belongs, to the payment of a compensation in the amount of 1,000 euros.
Rubén Canales
Abogado
