Did Mr Bulun Bulun hold the copyright as a fiduciary?
In Breen v Williams [1995] HCA 63; (1996) 186 CLR 71 at 82; 138 ALR 259, Brennan CJ identified two sources of fiduciary duties, the first being the circumstances in which a relationship of agency can be said to exist, and the other is founded in a relationship of ascendancy or influence by one party over another, or dependence or trust on the part of that other. The applicants’ counsel did not seek to characterise the fiduciary relationship for which he contends as derived from either source in particular. The existence of a fiduciary relationship is said to arise out of the nature of ownership of artistic works amongst the Ganalbingu people. In Hospital Products Ltd v United States Surgical Corporation [1984] HCA 64; (1984) 156 CLR 41 Mason J noted that the accepted fiduciary relationships are often referred to as relationships of trust and confidence or confidential relations, such as those that exist between trustee and beneficiary, company director and shareholder, principal and ag
