Among these changes was the new 'parody, caricature and pastiche exception' in recognition that such works were likely to involve varying degrees of use of existing copyright materials and a blanket ban on such use was hindering creativity.
#Vimeo jay z empire state of mind series#
The UK government subsequently looked to make a series of small but significant changes to better align UK copyright law with the modern digital age. But, in May 2011, Professor Ian Hargreaves delivered the verdict that the UK's failure to implement all of the copyright exceptions available under EU law was also harmful to innovation and economic growth. The lack of an exception for parody had obvious implications for freedom of expression. That seemed to represent a failure of the UK to keep up with other territories, like the USA, which had long recognised the right to parody under the doctrine of 'fair use'. It is often necessary to take a substantial part of the original work in order to parody it (so that the audience can recognise it is a parody) and so the law was acting as a significant constraint on comedians, people creating spoof YouTube videos and others.Ĭampaigners for the introduction of the exception argued parodists such as Cassetteboy - an anonymous figure interviewed on BBC Radio 4 earlier this week, who is famous for online "mash-up" comedy sketches of shows including The Apprentice and Dragon's Den and for disguising his identity with a giant cassette tape on his head - should be celebrated, not censored.Īs a result of action from the owners of copyright in the parodied work(s), YouTube were obliged, in the UK, to take down videos like "Newport State of Mind" (a parody of Jay Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind", sample lyrics: "We're from the small Welsh town of Newport/Concrete jumble, nothing in order/Not far from the border/When you're in Newport/Chips, cheese curry makes you feel brand new/Washed down with a Special Brew/Repeat the word Newport, Newport, Newport"). So any person parodying, caricaturing or pastiching an existing copyright work was vulnerable to legal action for copyright infringement, where they had reproduced a substantial part of the original work. Until yesterday (1 October), the UK had not taken up that option.
The birth of the parody, caricature and pastiche exception in the UKĮU law gives member states the option to provide for an exception to a copyright owner's exclusive right to reproduce, and authorise the reproduction of their works, where a person uses the work for caricature, parody or pastiche. After some delay and much anticipation, the UK has introduced a new 'parody, caricature and pastiche exception' into copyright law, giving comedians (and others) new protections from copyright infringement.
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