As with any type of prize promotion, it is essential to avoid being considered an 'illegal lottery' under the Gambling Act 2005 (GA 2005). As such, there must be either: • a free entry option (free prize draw) • an element of skill, judgement or knowledge by the participants that does not wholly rely on chance (prize competition) For more information,

This Q&A assumes that this relates to the position under English Law. Does copyright subsist in the artwork? There is no official system of registration of copyright in the UK. The right arises automatically once the copyright work is recorded, subject to other qualifications being fulfilled. In the UK, copyright subsists in specific categories of works, including original artistic works. Artistic works are material objects that are visual images. They are defined in section 4 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) as: • graphic works, photographs, sculptures or collages, irrespective of artistic quality • works of architecture, i.e buildings or models for them • works of artistic craftsmanship Copyright subsists in these works as long as the requirements of qualification are met. In theory, a piece created that does not fit into the categories above would be denied copyright protection; this is unlikely

Is there any legal rule stopping joint bank accounts for multiple customers? No. There is no express rule stopping a firm providing a bank account to two or more joint customers. However, the number of joint customers is usually set by a firm’s business risk appetite. How many joint customers do some firms allow? It is fairly common for firms to have a maximum of two or four joint customers. But there appears to be many firms who do not have a limit. This article published by Which? shows how many customers a number of firms will allow. What are

The Court of Appeal in R v Momodou held that witness coaching is not permitted in criminal cases. Although there is no express authority applying the decision to civil and family cases, it has been cited with approval in at least one civil case, and the Bar Council guidance to barristers is that it is appropriate to proceed on the basis that the case will apply in civil and family cases. The court distinguished between impermissible coaching and arrangements to familiarise a witness, for example as to the layout of the court, the sequence of events, and the role of the various

Hearsay Hearsay is defined under section 1(2) of the Civil Evidence Act 1995 (CEA 1995) as ‘a statement made otherwise than by a person while giving oral evidence in the proceedings which is tendered as evidence of the matters stated’. The meaning of hearsay includes hearsay of whatever degree for the purposes of CEA 1995 (see also CPR 33.1, which provides the same definition). CPR 33 deals with the admissibility of hearsay evidence and effectively restates the provisions of the CEA 1995 permitting such

Part 21A of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) contains provisions relating to persons with significant control over certain companies (PSCs). It is assumed that the shareholder in this scenario is a ‘registrable person’ for the purposes of CA 2006, s 790C, given that the question assumes that an address for that person is in fact registered at Companies House. A registrable person with significant control over a company is required to provide particulars of a service address, per

What is boilerplate? Boilerplate clauses deal with the mechanics of how the agreement works. As a boilerplate clause will deal with issues such as the interpretation, validity and enforcement of an agreement, it can have a significant impact on the other clauses in an agreement and on an agreement as a whole. It is important that any such impact is intentional and not the result of a boilerplate clause being included in an agreement with little thought. It is not unusual for a boilerplate clause to be the cause of litigation. For further information, see Practice Note: The role of boilerplate. Boilerplate clauses in consumer contracts The room for manoeuvre when drafting terms and conditions for consumers, including boilerplate provisions, and implementing them, is considerably

In the context of a proposed sale of a company with an untraceable minority shareholder who cannot take an active part in the sale, this Q&A looks at whether it is possible to change the articles retrospectively so as (i) to introduce compulsory transfer (‘drag along’) provisions to force a sale of the shares of the minority shareholder or (ii) to use the compulsory acquisition (‘squeeze-out’) provisions in Part 28 of the Companies Act 2006 to achieve the same result. Changing the articles of association ‘retrospectively’ A company's articles may, subject to a few exceptions and limitations, be amended by a special resolution of the company's members under the Companies Act 2006, s 21 (CA 2006). See Practice Note: A company’s constitution. Changes to a company’s articles take effect from the date of amendment; it is not possible to ‘back date’

Under Schedule 2 to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (Schedule 2) (ITEPA 2003), a share incentive plan (SIP) trustee has a duty to act in accordance with a participant’s directions. In particular, paragraph 72(3) of Schedule 2 states that the SIP ‘may provide for participants to give such general directions, to such effect and in such terms, as are specified in the plan’. This would suggest that in principle it may be possible, for example, for the SIP trust deed and applicable SIP share award agreements to allow for a general direction by participants that the trustee is not obliged to vote on their behalf. It is also possible for restrictions to apply to free or

The difficulty with this arrangement is that it could fall foul of section 38(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) which will make the agreement void. LTA 1954, s 38(2) provides: ‘Where— (a) during the whole of the five years immediately preceding the date on which the tenant under a tenancy to which this Part of this Act applies is to

Administration appointments procedure: Our Practice Note: Out-of-court administration appointments—the procedure covers this area to some extent, and looks at the out-of-court procedure where directors or the company seek the appointment of the administrator, and file the documents that will be required to make an application. If you consider IA 1986, Sch B1, para 28 (below) it seems that a Notice of Appointment should be filed within ten business days of filing the Notice of Intention to Appoint. It does not appear to be within the spirit of the moratorium that a party should be entitled to file numerous Notice of Intentions in order to take advantage of the ten-day moratorium. 'Para 28 (1) An appointment may not be made under paragraph 22 unless the person who

This Q&A is subject to the articles of association of the company limited by guarantee, which should be reviewed for any bespoke provisions on passing shareholder resolutions, shareholder meetings and making amendments to the articles of association. The written resolution procedure would not enable only 5% of the members of a company to pass a special resolution. The Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) provides that a written resolution is passed when the required majority of eligible