April 2005
BBC plays the "criticism and review" card in the pack and wins
A High court judge ruled that the BBC could use 14 pictures of the Beckhams without paying the celebrity photographer, Jason Fraser, anything for them because the BBC's programme amounted to a review of the press coverage of the famous couple.
The pictures were used in Piers Morgan's celebrity show, Tabloid Tales. In another episode, Fraser Woodward, the photographer's company, settled a copyright dispute out of court involving a picture of Paul McCartney and his wife. The same company, (with rivals, Bigger Pictures and Matrix) are also in a dispute with the BBC over the use of pictures of Anthea Turner in the same Tabloid Tales series. Both Fraser Woodward and Matrix, who dominate the tabloid press market, have stated that they will no longer work with the BBC or Endemol on principle.
BRIFFA Comment:
The defence of "fair dealing" for the purposes of "criticism and review", is a defence relied upon by many a journalist in media organisations across the board. Fair dealing with a work for this purpose will not infringe copyright, provided it is accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement, that is, the title and the author of the work. This ruling came only weeks after News Group Newspapers (The Sun) tried to claim it, having reproduced the cover of IPC's listings magazine - Whats on TV, but failed. The judge ruled that the paper could have made its criticism without reproducing the cover of the magazine, as the product merely needed to be identified.