AUTHOR and philosopher Andrew Malcolm today won his four-year legal battle to recover damages against Oxford University Press for breach of a "gentleman's agreement" to publish his book Making Names.
By a two-to-one majority, the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal by Mr Malcolm, 41, of Southover Street, Brighton, against a High Court ruling that he had shown a "strong moral" but not legally enforceable commitment to publish. The OUP, which was criticised throughout the legal action for "harsh and unfair" treatment of Mr Malcolm, was ordered to pay his costs.
Allowing the appeal, Lord Justice Nourse said the court hoped Mr Malcolm would be spared the anxiety of further litigation and that, with goodwill on both sides, it would be possible to agree the amount of damages he should receive. Mr Malcolm, who fought his case without legal assistance, said later: "lt is a great relief that justice has at last been done. I have been fighting the case for about four years and it has been exhausting." He added that his book was still unpublished. He might now consider publishing it himself.
Mr Malcolm began negotiations with the OUP for publication of his book, a work of philosophy, in the spring of 1985. They culminated in a conversation in which Henry Hardy, a senior editor in the General Books department, offered him a "fair royalty", and "a commitment" to publish, subject to some cutting and revision. But the book was summarily rejected by the OUP's then managing director, Richard Charkin.
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