Clients Last Name Goes Here 1 Individual Written Assignment Business Law Question 1

In the following case legal provisions state that Norris has an inalienable right to sue the agent as he has provided him with the false advice about the perspectives of the property Norris was purchasing. The behavior of the agent can be treated as negligent misstatement. According to Donoghue v Stevenson (1932) A person is only liable for harm that is the foreseeable consequence of their actions, that is, their failure to exercise reasonable care and skill. Therefore, we can make a conclusion that negligence took place in Evatt`s actions. Moreover, similar provisions are fixed in the Australian Business Law, according to which, People who unintentionally or carelessly give false advice, information or opinions on business or professionals matter may be liable for negligent misstatement if the receiver reasonably relied on the false material and suffered economics loss (Australian Business Law). In order to prove that it was negligence and not just a careless act, I would like to single out three compulsory elements of negligence: 1) A duty of care it took place as a real estate agent is responsible for giving their clients dependable and truthful information; 2) Breach of the duty Evatt has not checked the information and, consequently, the bought motel was not profitable; 3) Damage Norris lost both his money and a motel. As we see from the description of the case, Norris has conducted a proper research concerning the type of property he wanted to purchase and figured out what expectations about the property he had taken into consideration - both the type of business he wanted to own, the location of the business and the lifestyle he could lead in the following area.

Clients Last Name Goes Here 2 Afterwards he has contacted several agents who offered property in the chosen region. After careful consideration Norris selected the agent named Evatt who suggested Norris to buy the property in Port Stephens in New South Wales stating that the following property will be able to satisfy all Norriss needs and expectations and will be able to give a good profit, which was one of the most important circumstances for Norris. It was Evatts duty as a professional to inform Norris about all the characteristic features of the property he was going to purchase. Also before offering the property for sale it was Evatts responsibility to find out as much as possible about the following property to be able to find if that property is able to satisfy all the client`s requirements. Also Evatt should have considered Norriss expectations about the property carefully to make sure that the property he sells meets all the demands of Norris and that Norris would be able to perform the expected business activities there. As we can see, Evatt has not justified Norris` expectations and showed himself as an unreliable agent. Before making the final decision about purchasing the property Norris had a right to be fully and objectively informed concerning all positive and negative sides of the property he was offered and was going to buy. As he is not the expert in the questions of property, it was his agents responsibility to provide him with the trustworthy information about the land and business perspectives. So taking into consideration the above-mentioned facts it is possible to make the conclusion that the description of Evatt was false and unverified, as he has described the property as a gold mine for making a good working business and earning money on it. Norris has believed the recommendations of Evatt and went broke as a result. So it is a proper option for Norris to sue Evatt as Norris has a big chance to succeed in the case

Clients Last Name Goes Here 3 hearing as Evatts conduct can be considered as misleading and deceptive and breaching the law and rules of professional ethics. Also it is necessary to take into consideration that in order to succeed in the court Norris has to show the evidence that the economic losses he has experienced happened because of Evatts improper and non-professional conduct. In my opinion, there should not be any difficulties in proving that. The only thing Norris need is to prove that he went broke not because of his inability to make that motel profitable and popular for tourists, but because of Evatt`s improperly choosing the place ( Evatt may object that fact and refer to voluntary assumption of the risk: he may stress that Norris had known that it was risky to start his own business). Also the connection between Evatts negligent misstatement and Norriss economic loss should be proved (Berrigan Double Lawyers Group, 2012).

Clients Last Name Goes Here 4 Question 2

In order to clear up the most important circumstances of a case and come to the right conclusion about it, it is necessary to take all the important aspects of the following situation into consideration. It is stated in the description of the case that the auction catalogue contained the following information no animal is sold with a warranty unless specifically mentioned at the time of offering, and no warranty so given shall have any legal effect of force unless the terms thereof appear on the purchasers account. From the initial information we are able to consider it obvious that any person who would have purchased the cow from Drum would have no guarantees about its health conditions and would have been responsible for the decision of purchase (after the cow was passed to Harp, the risk was passed to him as well). On the other hand, when Drum saw that people did not show much inspiration to buy the cow when the bidding started he informed them that he could guarantee that nothing was wrong with the animal. It means that Drum has produced an oral statement which fully contradicts the initial statement about the animal purchase. Therefore, the agreement concerning the cow selling may be even declared null and void as one of the auction selling conditions was violated. From the case description we are not able to say whether Drum knew that his cow was ill. If he knew about that fact, his actions may be even considered as a fraud in order to get the money by selling a sick animal. Still, even if knew that, it will be almost impossible for Harp to prove that. To my mind, it is also possible to investigate when actually the cow got sick with the medical expert examination and after that it will be easier to make it clear if Drum`s promise was untruthful. However, I think that such radical measures will be too expensive and that is why they are useless in this very situation.

Clients Last Name Goes Here 5 Believing the Drums promise, Harp has made a decision to purchase the cow. However, in the course of time after Harp has purchased the animal it appeared that it has tuberculosis and the cow died shortly afterwards. In case Harp brings the action against Drum, the law will not protect the latter. It is so because in the following case the oral statement about the cows health made by Drum overrides the printed term. It was said by Drum in order to make the potential clients buy his cow, because after the defendant saw that the biding process was not active, he made an oral promise which meant the exclusion of the terms and conditions of the auction. Consequently, as the procedure of selling contravenes the auction catalogue provisions, the law does not have to protect Drum. Of course, it is necessary to take into consideration that while the biding process takes place, the parties are not that analytical. Drum made his oral statement because he wanted to encourage the potential consumers to purchase the cow. Though it is not apparent from the case description whether Drum knew that the cow was sick, still it is vital that he gave an oral promise that the condition of the cow is appropriate (Coffman, Macdonald, 2007). Summing up the above-mentioned information it is possible to come to the conclusion that the law will not protect Drum if Harp decides to sue him as the purchase was made based on the oral promise and despite Drum`s promise that cow is completely healthy and has no serious diseases, she shortly died because of TB. Even if we do not take into consideration that essential conditions of auction bidding were not followed, Drum`s promise is considered to be unreliable and his interests will not be protected. Therefore, the court is likely to make Drum pay a certain amount of money to Harp in order to undo the damage.

Clients Last Name Goes Here 6 Question 3 Before giving some pieces of advice to Coco concerning this case, it is necessary to take into consideration the main points of the case. First of all, though the case subject matter states that Cocos idea was new and original, she was afraid that somebody could steal it so she decided not to write down or print the idea because of the fear somebody can use it improperly and without her permission. I would like to mention several Coco`s main mistakes and explain why those mistakes may lead to Coco`s losing a case. To begin with, Coco had not expressed her idea on paper or in some other way. Therefore, due to Donoghue v Allied Newspapers [1938], which stresses that Copyright applies to the expression of an idea not the idea itself, Coco hasn`t got any proof that the idea is really hers. If she wanted to protect her work from being stolen or used improperly, she would better write down her idea and put in the bank safe etc. To my mind, this is the biggest mistake Coco has made, as at the moment she has no proof that the idea belongs to her. Secondly, Coco presented her idea to the producer just explaining in orally, without giving him any written/printed information about the idea. Coco decided that the producer is trustworthy enough and did not think that he is able of stealing her idea and again there are no proofs or witnesses to this conversation: it was not recorded with some video or audio devices and there were no eye-witnesses. A fact that she had talked over her idea with a close friend before having a conversation with a producer might not change the course of events as court may consider testimony of Coco`s friend as inadequate evidence for Coco`s winning a case.

Clients Last Name Goes Here 7 In the following case it is quite doubtful that Coco will be able to prove that the idea belonged to her and receive monetary or moral satisfaction for the idea being stolen because of the above-mentioned reasons and circumstances. According to the Australian Laws concerning the intellectual property it was the best option for Coco to protect her idea from the very beginning using the Copyright. It is stated that Copyright can protect the original expression of ideas. The Intellectual property documents assure that At the time of creation, copyright protection automatically applies to original works of art, literature, music, films, broadcasts and computer programs. Material is automatically protected from the time it is first written down, painted or drawn, filmed or recorded. Copyright protection is provided under the Copyright Act 1968. Copyright owners are granted exclusive rights to do certain acts with an original work or other subject matter including: communicating online, licensing others in regard to copying the work, performing it in public, broadcasting it, publishing it and making an adaptation of the work. Rights vary according to the nature of the work (Australian Government, 2012). Though Coco can be considered an individual creator and is supposed to have the so-called moral rights (Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 (Cth), which can protect her ideas and give her the right to be attributed as the creator of her work, take action if her work is falsely used as somebody elses work and give her support in other cases, it is really unlikely that she will be able to prove that the work belongs to her even if she tries to start the legal process against the producer. To my mind, Coco may try to contest the originality of an idea (the notion originality means that the work is the result of the authors own efforts and is not copied from someone) in case the producer will claim

Clients Last Name Goes Here 8 that the idea is created by him. If that happens, the idea will not be protected by the Copyright as it will be considered as an idea of another person, in our case Coco`s. Still, it is unlikely that Coco will win the case by following this tactics. It is obvious that if Coco has written down her ideas or have printed them, she would have the evidence that those ideas belong to her and then would be legally entitled to use the ideas on her mind or even sell them. The best advice which can be given to her in case she has other interesting ideas is to present them in a written or printed form in order to protect them from illegal usage and stealing, as well as to be more careful while choosing business partners in the future.

Clients Last Name Goes Here 9 Question 4 Speaking about the circumstances described in the case, it is obvious that the facts mentioned in the advertisement can be considered to be untruthful and do not give the entire picture of this offer to the potential consumers. Though it is stated that the customers will be able to receive the land and house packages on payment of $1000 deposit and $120$140 weekly repayments, not all the information about the offer is given to them. It is apparent that in the advertisement no warning or additional information to the potential customers was included, stating that at some time between one and three years after the settlement date, long-term finance would be substituted for the temporary finance and the repayments also could be expected to rise to the point of more than $175 per week. This means that initial provisions of the proposition which may be one of the most important ones and influence the consumer`s financial condition were not included in the advertisement. Though, it was a consumer`s risk to accept such a proposition without investigating thoroughly all the details. To my mind, it was the consumer`s fault that they have Taking into consideration the norms of the Australian Consumer Law it is possible to make the conclusion that the above-mentioned advertisement provides the false information and contradicts the norms regulating the representations and conduct. The advertising described in the case can be treated as misleading and deceptive conduct and false representation in trade and commerce (Taco Company of Australia Inc v Taco Bell Pty Ltd (1982). Australian Consumer Law prohibits all forms of misleading and deceptive conduct and false representations in trade and commerce. Moreover, this

Clients Last Name Goes Here 10 advertisement may be considered as a specific false representation of price of goods and services which is foreseen in s 29(i) of the Australian Consumer Law. Speaking about the solutions for the customers who have experienced certain damage because of the improper advertising, they include compensation, an injunction to prevent future conduct, a declaration that statements or representations made were in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law and correcting the advertising. Therefore, it will be quite easy for the cheated consumers to get their money back, because this advertisement contravenes at least two sections of the Australian Consumer Law. Still, there is nothing mentioned about who has ordered to arrange this advertisement in a daily newspaper by Pioneering Homes Pty Ltd, as this company or person also will be responsible for such an advertising. Summing up the main facts of the following case, it is possible to assume that the advertising published in a daily newspaper by Pioneering Homes Pty Ltd violate the norms of the Part 3-1, Division 1 of Australian Consumer Law as the following advertising can be treated as the type of representation made in trade or commerce in connection with the supply or possible supply of goods or services, or in connection with the promotion by any means of the supply or use of goods and services, constitute a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law (Clayton Utz, 2011). In addition to this, the advertisement contravenes s 29(i) of the ASL as it gives untruthful information concerning the price of the service. The company provided the untrue information about both the pricing and the terms and conditions of the land and house packages. As a result, this advertisement is to be corrected or not published anymore, and those consumers who had suffered from this incorrect advertising are to get money compensation.

Clients Last Name Goes Here 11 References Australian Business Law 6th Edition by Roger Vickery and Wayne Pendleton. Australian Government, 2012. Intellectual Property. [Online] Available at: <http://australia.gov.au/topics/law-and-justice/intellectual-property> Berrigan Double Lawyers Group, 2012. Negligent Misstatement and Pure Economic Loss. [Online] Available at: < http://www.bdlg.com.au/index.php/Commercial-Business-Law/negligent-misstatements-andpure-economic-loss.html > Clayton Utz, 2011. The Australian Consumer Law. An Essential Guide for Product Manufacturers and Suppliers. [Online] Available at: <http://www.claytonutz.com/docs/ACL_Dec_2010.pdf> Coffman, L., Macdonald, E., 2007. The Law of Contract. Sixth Edition. Oxford University Press. Melbourne University Law Review Association Inc., Australian Guide to Legal Citation (2010, 3 ed).