Changes to UK Copyright law

In the UK, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
provides exceptions where you can copy or use all or part of a copyright work
without permission from the owner.  The
exceptions changed this year to make the UK copyright system better suited to
the digital age.  This article outlines
the changes that came into effect on 1 June and 1 October 2014.

1 June 2014

Extensions to the scope of existing exceptions:

Disability:
Copyright material can now be reproduced in an accessible format for people
with any disability that impedes
access to that material for their personal use, provided that accessible copies
are not already commercially available. 
Such accessible copies can be made by individuals, educational establishments
and non-profit organisations.       

Research, education,
libraries, archives and museums:

Previously, only literary, dramatic, musical and artistic
works could be copied for non-commercial research and private study.  This exception has been extended to cover all types of copyright work.  The provisions about only copying a
reasonable proportion of the work and sufficiently acknowledging the author
still apply.

Educational institutions, libraries, archives and museums
are now permitted to offer access to copyright works on their premises at
dedicated electronic terminals for non-commercial research and private study. 

The exception to use certain types of copyright works for
educational purposes has been extended to cover all types of copyright work to make this relevant to the modern
educational environment, provided that licences for the educational
establishment are not available.      

Cultural institutions can copy works for archiving and
preservation reasons if they are part of a permanent collection and it is not
reasonably practicable to purchase a replacement.

Public
administration: Public bodies may now share copyright material that is open
to public inspection online as well as providing hard copies, provided that the
material is not commercially available.   
  

New exception:

Text and data mining:
A new exception was introduced for text and data mining for non-commercial
research.  This means that if a
researcher already has the lawful right to access a copyright work to read it, they
can make a copy for their own non-commercial text and data analysis of anything
recorded in it without requiring additional permission.   

1 October 2014

New exceptions:

Parody: Many
works of caricature, parody or pastiche involve some level of copying from another
work.  Video parody is commonplace,
particularly since the advent of YouTube and social networking sites.  A new exception was therefore introduced to
allow fair dealing with a copyright work for the purpose of caricature, parody
or pastiche.  Fair dealing means that a
limited, moderate amount of a copyright work may be used (for example,
referencing and building on a copyright work). 
Anything that is not fair dealing will still require permission from the
copyright owner (for example, using a whole, unchanged work). 

The Deckmyn parody case:

The Court of Justice of the
European Union (the “CJEU“)
ruled on parody this autumn.[1]  This will be useful guidance for EU member
states’ courts, including as and when the English courts have to consider the
new exception for parody. 

Background: Johan Deckmyn distributed calendars to the public at an
event hosted by his far-right political party. 
The calendars included an image adapted from the front cover of a Suske
and Wiske (Spike and Suzy) comic book where the mayor of Ghent was depicted as
one of the characters throwing gold coins to immigrants.  The owners of the original work obtained an
interim injunction preventing further distribution.  Deckmyn appealed, arguing this should fall within
the Belgian exception for parody, caricature and pastiche under the Belgian
Copyright Act and the EU InfoSoc Directive. 
The Brussels Court of Appeal referred this matter to the CJEU for
guidance.

CJEU ruling: The CJEU ruled that parody is an autonomous concept of EU law. The parody should:

• evoke an existing work while being noticeably different from it
• constitute an expression of humour or mockery
• reasonably be attributed to a person other than the author of the original work

The InfoSoc Directive seeks to ensure that copyright exceptions strike a fair balance between the interests of rights owners and freedom of expression of the parodist. Therefore the CJEU also ruled that where a parody contains a discriminatory message, the rights owners have a legitimate interest in ensuring the work is not associated with such a message.

Quotation: Previously, quotation was only allowed for the purpose of criticism and review. However, a new exception was introduced allowing quotation of copyright works without needing the copyright owner’s permission, provided the use is fair and reasonable and the source is acknowledged.

Private copying for personal use: A new exception was introduced allowing an individual to make a copy, for their own private use, of a copyright work that they legally acquired. For example, an individual may copy a CD they bought onto their MP3 player. However, they may not make a copy of that CD for family or friends or sell a copy.

The UK government did not introduce a private copying levy, given the narrow scope of this exception. However, on 26 November 2014, the Musicians’ Union, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and UK Music applied for judicial review of the new private copying exception on the basis that it is incompatible with the EU Copyright Directive. This includes a requirement that where a member state provides for such an exception it must also provide fair compensation for rights holders.

Some of these exceptions only apply in specific circumstances. Others are of more general relevance in a commercial context. For those who own copyright, we can advise on whether you can prohibit or license use of your work. For those seeking to use a copyright work, we can advise on whether you can rely on an exception or if you require permission from the copyright owner. This is important because deliberate infringement on a commercial scale may result in criminal prosecution.