UK Copyright Law and changes for parody works
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Written on 07
November 2014
Under previous UK law, parodies of copyrighted music, TV shows
and films were not permitted unless prior consent had been obtained
from the owners of the copyright. Before the changes took place,
artists who put together parody videos or songs ran the risk of being
sued for breaching copyright by using any clips from TV shows, films or
songs, without the necessary consent from the copyright owner.
The amendments to the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988, creates a new 'fair dealing' right to
use copyrighted material for works of parody. This allows for people to
use limited amounts of another person’s work without the owner’s
permission, provided that its use is for parody work only.
Regarding the ‘fair dealing’ right, the UK Courts have now
established various factors for determining whether the use of a
copyrighted work is 'fair', these include assessing whether use of the
copied material affects the market for the original work and whether
the amount of the material copied is reasonable and appropriate.
Although these changes have taken place, owners of copyright
work do have the right to sue if the parody conveys a discriminatory
message or if its use amounts to derogatory treatment.
By Gcobisa Bonani, a legal assistant
at Lawdit Solicitors
About the Author
Lawdit
Solicitors offer services and advice for litigation,
commercial contracts, Intellectual Property and IT legal agreements. We
are experts in commercial law with a heavy emphasis on Intellectual
Property, Internet and e-commerce law. Lawdit is a member of the
International Trademark Association, the Solicitors' Association of
Higher Court Advocates and we are the appointed Solicitors to the
largest webdesign association in the world, the United Kingdom Website
Designers Association.
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2015-02-10 11:40:49 in Legal Articles
