Spoof mash-up videos to be at the mercy of judges' sense of humour
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Version 0 of 1. Until this week, spoof mash-up videos such as Ed Miliband and the hip-hop star Drake, or Nigella Lawson talking dirty, could land their creators in hot water. However, changes to the law are to be introduced which allow the use of copyrighted material “for the purposes of parody, caricature or pastiche”, without first seeking permission from the rights holder. Spoof videos, including mash-ups (usually the combining of two separate pop culture elements), are widespread and popular on in the internet, especially on platforms such as YouTube and Vine. The videos, which are edited, dubbed or montaged, are intended to be humorous and mostly satirical, and often poke fun at celebrities or politicians. The issue of copyright, however, has seen many spoofs pulled from the internet. Changes to the law will allow parodists to use copyrighted material, as spoofs will now fall under “fair dealing”. Fair dealing is an element of the law which allows a limited amount of copyrighted material to be used. But if the creator of a spoof mash-up is taken to court then it will be up to a judge to decide whether or not it achieves its aim of being amusing. The worry is that humour is a subjective quality and what tickles one judge’s funny bone may leave another stony-faced. Aaron Levitt, of music blog Stamp the Wax, told the Telegraph: “I think [the new exception] will encourage more freedom as creative people are no longer working under the risk of prosecution. “But it’s risky to put this in the hands of judges, who are out of touch with the generation who are creating the content and the audience it is aimed at.” |