CIVIL SITTINGS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 450, 8 March 1909, Page 9

CIVIL SITTINGS.

A; SALE OF PROGRAMME RIGHTS. . • CLAIM'AGAINST NEW, ZEALAND RUGBY UNION':. "The.hearing of a claim brought b.v Albert Sydney Watson, trading as .the Imperial Advertising Agency, against the New Zealand Rilgbjr Union was continued before Mr. JustideS Cooper on Saturday.. (with him -Mr. M'Kenssie) ap-peared-on behalf of plaintiff, and Mr. Skerrett',>K.C. (with him Mr. M'Lean), for defendants. ; ■ 1 tTliis was a claim for £375, alleged breach of'.aii; agreement relating to the'official programme rights in connection;with the tour of tho ! 'British football team last year. Plaintiff seiiiied the solo right of publication of the official;- souvenir programme for the whole of th&*. matches for £52.-10s., and, in addition, 7i fpfe cent, of the amount veceived on tho site of th 6 programmes, the amount'of such ,pr6j)ortion to bo not less than £30. It was provided in the contract that defendants should I have no liability should any opposition be published", but the union was to use its best endeavours to assist plaintiff" and afford information with reference to piAyers and ofSoials jn each Imatch that might be; requested by plaintiff. Plaintiff alleged thajtl he consented to the agreement only onj'condition that defendant union should undertake that neither .it lior its agents nor th^.' .manager 'of the visiting'-team nor any bo3y ; or'person under its Control should sup-ply-to any other person excepting plaintiff any information as to the names or the nunibe/s'of members of any team. On and after thij-fojirth match of the tour the names and numbers of players were supplied, to tho press ( _by and with the. authority of defendants' '"'By reason 1 thereof plaintiff was able : to sell only a total of 15,000 programmes whgn he ought to have sold at least- 60,000. The defence -to the action was that plaintiff entered into-the contract unconditionally. If their.;, secretary made the stipulation claimed he-.was not 'empowered to do so. They never refused or neglected_ to supply plaintiff with any v ,official information. Under no circumstances would plaintiff havo sold more pro-' grammes than" ho actually did sell. Defendants' counterclaimed that an account be taken of/the. sales of the jwogramnies and of the antourit due by plaintiff to them. „ ■: •Further evidence on behalf ..of defendants was'given by Neil Galbraith, 'treasurer of the New_Zealand Rugby Union,, who stated that there was .considerable iii:tlio press arid amongst tho public \vlien' it' ; ,w,as'.found that. the field numbers; did ■ not 'correspond •wiith,.the programme numbers for thfj'.match 18. Witness, spokb.- to'-ilr.-,. Moore, plaintiff's agent, with the result that'oil the occasion of the- next match tho-defect was remedied. The-.usual practice was ; that the fixing of the numbers was a matter-betwefcn: the holder of tho programme' rights and the : tearii's.-,

■(To Mr. Ostler: He crmlc] not say whether on any. occasion refused to hand the jerseys belonging to the visiting teatii ,<to plaintifF. W. C). Talbot, secretary t6;,the ; Wellington Rugby Union, said that the, custom was to publish the programmes seven spectators expected to attend a match, The ratio of actual sales to numbei;i published wr.s lin 10., Unions never withheld the names of players from tho press. ■Tt.-was agrewl that the evidence of Mr. . J. ;D. Avery, secretary to the Now Zealand ' Rug|by Union, who was unavoidably absent, should be taken on commission. His Honour, aftet hearing counsel's addresses, thereforo deferred giving his judgment.