Tag: Exception

Shazam Productions Limited v Only Fools The Dining Experience Limited and Others, 2022

30 October 2024 / Erica Levi

Shazam initiated legal action to stop the performance of an interactive dining show called “Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience.” This show featured Del Boy and other main characters from the comedy using their traits and backstories in an interactive pub quiz format. The defendants did not seek Shazam’s approval, leading to a lawsuit for copyright infringement and passing off, as many people might have believed the show was an authorised spin-off.

The claimant, Shazam, was a company owned by the family of John Sullivan (d.2011), the creator and writer of the award-winning British TV sitcom “Only Fools and Horses” (1980s and 1990s).

The defendants argued that their use was fair dealing, particularly for parody and pastiche. Although this exception has been widely discussed, this case was the first time a UK court tested the defence.

_{Ibbetson, S and Ryan, M. (2022). Why do only fools and horses write original material? UK court finds copyright infringement of ‘Del Boy’ character. Kluwer Copyright Blog. Available from here.}

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Scenario 2

15 March 2022 / Erica Levi

https://ericalevi.coventry.domains/games/creativeReuseEducation.html

This scenario is part of the online course Copyright and Creative Reuse in Education, designed by Bartolomeo Meletti (Learning on Screen).

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Scenario 1

15 February 2022 / Erica Levi

https://ericalevi.coventry.domains/games/performingPublic.html

This scenario is part of the online course Copyright and Creative Reuse in Education, designed by Bartolomeo Meletti (Learning on Screen).

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Can I apply a CC licence to my work if it incorporates non-CC licensed material?

2 February 2022 / Erica Levi

It depends on the purpose of your publication.

Technically, yes, you may apply one of the Creative Commons licences to your work even if it incorporates material used under fair dealing, which is another exception or limitation to copyright. Still, it is important to prominently mark any third-party material so re-users do not think the Creative Commons licence applies to that material.

The Creative Commons licence only applies to the rights you have in the work. For example, if your Creative Commons licensed slide deck includes a Flickr image you are using under any exceptions to copyright law, make sure to identify that image as not subject to the Creative Commons licence. For more information about incorporating work owned by others, see our page about marking third-party content.

Suppose you publish a new creation, for example, an Open Access journal article. In that case, it is better to seek permission from the copyright holder, making it clear that you will apply an open licence to the whole work. Whilst they’ll indicate to readers that their copyrighted resource is excluded from this licence, you cannot control downstream use. Unfortunately, it may increase the chance that the third-party copyright owner will reject the request, compared to a request for a ‘paywalled’ publication where distribution is more limited.

Extract from the Creative Commons’ Frequently Asked Questions webpage. It is available from https://creativecommons.org/faq/#may-i-apply-a-cc-license-to-my-work-if-it-incorporates-material-used-under-fair-use-or-another-exception-or-limitation-to-copyright [accessed on 2 February 2022]

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Can I create an audio recording from a book?

27 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Creating audio from books is considered an adaptation; therefore, you would require permission unless you have a strong case that your use falls under fair dealing or one of the exceptions to copyright law.

For example, if students were to read a portion of a book for the final assessment on a voice or acting module, the recording would be limited to the exam and for marking with the sole purpose of graduating. It would be fair dealing—the initial recital and recording fall under the exception of Illustration for instruction (S.32).

Let’s stretch it a bit. Let’s say the lecturer would like students to read portions of various books that first years have to read and make available to freshers as audiobooks. The purpose here changes from just examination purposes; the tutor will make the recording available for future students to listen to so that future students can be inspired by listening to recent graduates read.

Performance of a work falls under the exception to copyright law – an audiobook is a performance that falls under the exception of Public reading and performance (s.59) therefore since the recording will be available to students for free, and the recording will be from different books (versus the entire content of a single book) there would not be any commercial gain. The recording will need to be accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement. The portion read should come from different books or, even better, from outside of the copyrighted text.

However, if the students were to recite different portions of the same book, which are then going to be stuck together to comprise the entire content of the book, whilst the assessment activity would still be acceptable, the final compiled product for the first years falls out of the fair dealing requirement of s.32 and the conditions of s.59 relating to “a reasonable extract”.

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

What are the copyright exceptions in UK law?

25 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Exceptions are also known as ‘permitted acts’. Reusing a copyrighted work under an exception does not require permission from the copyright owner. All exceptions listed below come from the current UK copyright legislation (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988) and are applicable in its jurisdiction.

Exception		Section 29: Research and private study
Category		Research/Education
Summary		You can make a single copy of a fair dealing amount for non-commercial research or private study
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Photocopying a chapter of a book to research a topic for an essay

Exception		Section 29A: Copies for text and data analysis for non-commercial research
Category		Research/Education
Summary		You can copy works for text and data mining providing you have lawful access
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		No
Potential application		Extracting articles from a database to carry out a linguistic frequency analysis

Exception		Section 30: Criticism, review, quotation and news reporting
Category		Research/Education
Summary		You can copy part of a work for these purposes The quotation element was introduced in 2014 and covers quoting for any purpose. It does not cover unpublished works
Commercial use allowed?		Yes
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Criticism: using low-resolution versions of artworks in a thesis to discuss an academic theme Review: using sentences from a newly published book to review it Quotation: using a line of poetry as a decorative backdrop for a poetry event

Exception		Section 30A: Caricature, parody or pastiche
Category		Research/Education
Summary		You can copy part of a work for this purpose It does not cover unpublished works This exception was introduced in 2014
Commercial use allowed?		Yes
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Using a few lines from a song to create a parody sketch, or using small amounts of a film to create a larger pastiche work

Exception		Section 31: Incidental inclusion of copyright material
Category		Performance
Summary		Copyright in a work is not infringed by its incidental inclusion in an artistic work, sound recording, film or broadcast. Nor is it infringed by the issue to the public of copies, the playing or showing of the work. Audio (such as musical work, words spoken or sung with music, or a sound recording or broadcast) is excluded from this exception if it is deliberately included.
Commercial use allowed?		Yes
Contractual override allowed?		N/A
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Showing in passing copyrighted material that is in the background while filming

Exception		Sections 31A and 31B: Accessible copies for disabled users
Category		Disability
Summary		Individuals and institutions can make an accessible copy of the whole or part of a work for users with any disability
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		No
Potential application		Making a large print copy of a book for a visually impaired person, so long as the person has lawful access to the original work

Exception		Section 32: Illustration for instruction
Category		Teaching
Summary		You can copy part of a work to illustrate a teaching point It is not limited to teaching within an educational establishment
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Including a short snippet of a video in a presentation, if the snippet is integral to the teaching point that you’re making

Exception		Section 34: Performing, playing or showing work in course of activities of an educational establishment
Category		Teaching
Summary		You can perform, play or show a work for purposes of instruction at an educational establishment Members of the public cannot be admitted
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		Unclear
Fair dealing?		No
Potential application		Playing a DVD of an entire film in a class where the film is related to the teaching

Exception		Section 35: Recording of broadcasts
Category		Teaching
Summary		You can record free-to-air broadcasts on behalf of educational establishments for non-commercial purposes However, the ERA Licence takes precedence over this exception
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		Yes
Fair dealing?		No
Potential application		Making a recording of a television show and playing that recording in class or making it available on a secure Virtual Learning Environment

Exception		Section 42: Copying by librarians, etc., replacement copies of works
Category		Preservation
Summary		Changing the media of some material to ensure its preservation, like converting analogue recordings into digital, providing that it is not practical to purchase the item (for example a special collection item)
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		Yes
Potential application		Changing the media of some material to ensure its preservation, like converting analogue recordings into digital, providing that it is not practical to purchase the item (for example, a special collection item)

Exception		Section 59: Public reading and performance
Category		Teaching
Summary		You can perform a published literary or dramatic a work
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Creating audio recording or acting

Exception		Section 62: Representation of certain artistic works on public display
Category		Performance
Summary		The copyright in such a work is not infringed by making a graphic work representing it, making a photograph or film of it, or making a broadcast of a visual image of it
Commercial use allowed?		Yes
Contractual override allowed?		N/A
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		This section applies to buildings, sculptures, models for buildings and works of artistic craftsmanship if permanently situated in a public place or in premises open to the public

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Adapted from: The University Library. (2022?). Copyright exceptions. [online]. Available from https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/copyright/exceptionstab [Access on 25 January 2022].

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Can I screen movies for a students’ Film Club society?

25 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Would a student film club be allowed to screen films from BoB or on DVD from a library collection without breaching copyright/licensing terms?

Let’s assume that the aim of screening films is to explore sociological concepts for exploration and discussion among students. It’s related to the student’s studies, i.e., for instruction and not for social events. Onsite screenings would be covered under an exception in the law for performing, playing or showing work in the course of activities of an educational establishment. Still, they have to be strictly limited to staff and students of the institution. You couldn’t use this for anything open to the general public (or invited guests/family members of students).

You should always encourage whoever hosts the screenings to promote them as an educational resource rather than entertainment, and then you have a strong defence if ever challenged, however unlikely.

Also, the exception for criticism, review, quotation and news reporting might apply, but it depends on how easy it is to argue that showing a whole film is fair dealing.

A ‘public’ screening always requires permission and licensing, regardless of whether a fee is charged or not or for charity fundraising purposes.

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Can I use software screenshots planned to be made freely/openly available online as part of a training resource?

24 January 2022 / Erica Levi

This type of use falls under the exception in copyright law illustration for instruction.

It constitutes a low risk as long as it doesn’t compete with the product (for example, if the product owner were to sell separate videos on how to use the product, which usually is highly unlikely).

It’s no different from the many ‘How to’ videos you find on YouTube that don’t appear to be taken down.

Some software licences may even include permission to make copies/screenshots for user training purposes.

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Why shouldn’t we link directly to PDFs?

20 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Links to PDFs change more frequently than a journal’s article landing page, for example. Therefore, linking directly to PDFs will cause links to break often, and the resources offered to students will be of high maintenance.

Unless copyright exceptions and licences permit it, the law will not allow you to redistribute the PDF freely to students.

What about hyperlinks and copyright?

How do I link to e-published articles?

How do I reference sources?

How do I find a legal version of an e-publication?

What about hyperlinks and copyright?

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Can I include screenshots?

13 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Can lesson content include screenshots from various websites used as a basis for teaching and activities?

Screenshots can be included (provided there is an acknowledgement) in the context of a module, where they are being used for instruction purposes, and they are unlikely to be a substantial part of the website as a whole.

In this context, it would be difficult to see how it could harm the company’s commercial interest.

Additionally, it would be permissible under fair dealing exceptions such as those for illustration for instruction or criticism and review.

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.