Practice

The Chancery Division allowed an appeal against the joinder of the second defendant, a division of the Welsh government which promoted tourism in Wales, to proceedings in which it sought to challenge the restoration of a company to the register of companies. The claimant director and sole shareholder of the company in question had successfully sought its restoration to the register to pursue proceedings for breach of copyright in respect of a photograph. The court held that, applying settled principles, the defendant was not entitled to be joined to oppose the restoration of the company simply because it was a potential defendant in the copyright proceedings and was not entitled to be joined to oppose the restoration because the company might or might not have successfully assigned part of its rights to another company. The court held that a desire by a third part to assist the court in determining whether it had been misled in the way contended was not a proper basis for joinder.