Copyright Infringement Case.
If you live and work in the United Kingdom, and you’re thinking about copying a newspaper article—think again! BEWARE, the high court in England has spoken!
Copyright Infringement
Penalties for Copyright Infringement in UK.
Copyright infringement is taken very seriously, unlike in the United States, where some courts will let you get away with taking what’s not yours (stealing). The England and Wales Court of Appeal ruled that anyone who makes an unauthorized copy of news articles, which by their definition could include someone reading from a computer screen, can be considered an infringement of the news publisher’s copyright. (Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd. v. Meltwater Holdings Ltd., EWCA (Civ.), No. A3/2010/2888/CHANF, 7/27/11).
Big Burden for Businesses that Infringe Copyrights.
For some people, including businesses, this will create a costly burden. For example, if a business has a subscription to a media monitoring service, which contains content from online newspapers, the business will now be required to obtain not one, but 2 licenses: one for the paid-for online monitoring service provider and one for their customers.
This July 27th court ruling is a coup for British newspaper publishers, as it helps to ensure that publishers can be sure of receiving fair royalties for the use of their content.
But of course, not everyone is happy. “The ability to browse the Internet without fear of infringing copyright is a fundamental internet principle,” says Korn Lyseggen, CEO of Meltwater. “Society is not served by this ruling and it would be absurd if interpretation of the law should clash so fundamentally with how millions of people use the internet every day.”
Your Thoughts?
What are your thoughts about copyright infringement and this case in particular?
I’m Attorney Francine Ward, feel free to join the conversation on my Facebook Business Page.
