Campaigners challenge copyright law

Campaigners are lobbying the government to change the copyright law so it cannot be used to stifle parodies.

Those behind the Right To Parody campaign say big business are using intellectual property rules to silence critics and suffocate creativity.

They cite the examples of an Olympic spoof pulled from YouTube because it used the mascots Wenlock and Mandeville, legal action against a Greenpeace campaign that parodied VW’s adverts to make a point about climate change, and the removal of the hugely popular Newport State Of Mind spoof after the original songwriters objected.

Daniel Clarke, from comedy team Mother's Best Child, created the parody involving the London 2012 mascots at last summer’s riots. He said: ‘As comedy writers our first intention was to make people laugh. But the glaringly obvious hypocrisy in staging a billion pound event at a time of austerity and social unrest was a satirical gift.

‘I find it outrageous and more than slightly comical that an organisation this large [The Olympics] can be so concerned with crushing something so small as a Mother's Best Child sketch. Does it surprise me that the creators of the London 2012 mascots don't have a sense of humour? Erm, no.’

Launching the campaign, Peter Bradwell, from the Open Rights Group said: ‘The Olympics will draw on huge amounts of public money... Whether the Olympics is good, bad or both, it is a hugely significant event whose impact should be open to a robust public debate.

‘Some businesses are allowed to associate themselves with this story by trading on powerful Olympic images and branding. Those organisations will be trying to suggest to us that we eat, drink, wear or use their products and services. For everyone else, genuine engagement with the meaning of the Olympics is heavily regulated. Copyright is one tool that can be used, and is being used, to stifle efforts to engage with that story.’

The IT Crowd creator Graham Linehan has thrown his weight behind the campaign saying: ‘I hope politicians are brave enough to ensure that, through a new parody exception, we have a copyright law that allows aspiring comedians to make the most of the wonderful opportunities of the digital age.’

At the moment, parodies of films and music are not currently allowed under British law, unless you have the permission of the person or corporation that owns the copyright. There is no ‘fair use’ defence, as there is in the US.

The Right To Parody group wants the government to take up recommendations in the recent independent review of intellectual property law conducted by Professor Ian Hargreaves.

Although matters of free speech were outside his remit, in his report Digital Opportunity, the journalism professor and regular on Radio 4’s Moral Maze said that relaxing copyright restrictions for parodies – which is allowed under European law – made good sense for the UK economy.

He wrote: ‘As for an exception in copyright law to permit parody, the most important issues in that area concern freedom of expression and in that respect sit outside this review’s terms of reference. Here too, however, there is an economic link. Video parody is today becoming part and parcel of the interactions of private citizens, often via social networking sites, and encourages literacy in multimedia expression in ways that are increasingly essential to the skills base of the economy. Comedy is big business.’

Many creative people learn their craft by making parodies for the internet, according to Rob Manuel, editor of the website B3ta.com, which hosts such content.

He said: ‘B3ta.com is about grassroots creativity, encouraging people to pick up the tools of the internet and use them to make jokes, entertain each other and ultimately help people flower their creativity into new careers. Along the way we've played a part in the careers of a generation of people who are the bright new talents in the UK's creative industry.

‘In the ten years of B3ta we have had various problems with lawyers and copyright holders. Unfailingly business uses copyright to suppress criticism and humour, so we're very excited by a new exception for parody and pastiche. This would be enlightened policy making.

‘Those who can afford lawyers use copyright to shut down legitimate criticism. We fully support the proposed move to allow parody and pastiche to be exempt from copyright. This would be sane and fantastic policy. We hope the government does the right thing.’

The campaigners are urging people to sign their petition here, to challenge the existing legislation by making more parodies, and get in contact if they encounter problems with copyright law. They will then make a submission to the current consultation, taking place in response to the Hargreaves report.

On the face of it, they have a good chance of success. In its response to the Hargreaves report, the government said it intended to introduce an exception for parody.

However, it added: ‘We are committed to doing so in ways that do not prejudice the provision of appropriate incentives for creation of works through the copyright system and will consult widely on the basis of sound evidence.’

A report on the progress of this consultation is expected in the spring.

Published: 10 Jan 2012