The man who published the biography of former prime minister Dom Mintoff was yesterday ordered to pay €3,000 in damages after a court found that he had plagiarised a book on statues.

Joseph Mary Grech, the author of Vari ta’ Malta u Għawdex, published in 1998, filed his action for damages in the First Hall of the Civil Court against author Josef Grech and publisher Doreen Spiteri on behalf of Dom Communications Ltd over their book.

Joseph Mary Grech told the court that he had published his work through Publishers Enterprises Group (PEG) Ltd, which company was later put into liquidation. The copyright in the work was assigned to PEG for three years from 1998, after which year it reverted to the author.

He told the court that in 2014 he wanted to publish a second edition of his work but was told by Book Distributors Ltd that Josef Grech had published a book with the same name that year.

When checking the content of Josef Grech’s book, Joseph Mary Grech noted that the book contained many of the photographs he had taken for his own 1998 work, and that much of the text – including information about 59 of the statues – was a word-for-word reproduction of his work.  Moreover, the book had a similar cover and the same title.

Eighty-three per cent of the photographs in Josef Grech’s book were taken by Joseph Mary Grech.

Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti noted that the defendants had not contested claims made by Joseph Mary Grech. This was a clear case of plagiarism, said the court, as it ordered Josef Grech and Dom Communications Ltd to pay €3,000 in damages to Joseph Mary Grech.