Speaker
Dr Sabine Jacques - UEA Lecturer in IP/IT/Media Law.
Abstract
Copyright law grants exclusive rights to right-holders which prevent others from exploiting copyright-protected works without prior authorisation. However, this right is not absolute. Legislation includes specific exceptions which preclude right-holders from exercising their prerogatives in particular cases which foster creativity and cultural diversity within that society. The parody exception pertains to this ultimate objective by permitting users to reproduce copyright-protected materials for the purpose of parody.
While the parody exception is not harmonised at international level, the EU Information Society Directive offers EU Member States the option of including a parody exception within national copyright legislation as part of a harmonising framework. The UK took advantage of this option, and introduced a new copyright exception for parody in October 2014.
Where are we today? To understand the meaning and scope of the recent exception in UK copyright law and to analyse whether EU harmonisation of the parody exception is achievable, this presentation will compare four jurisdictions which differ in their protection of parodies: the US, France, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. It will be concerned with finding an appropriate balance between the protection afforded to right-holders and the public interest in encouraging parody. This will be achieved by analysing the parody exception to the economic rights of right-holders, the application of moral rights and the interaction of the parody exception with contract law.
As parodies constitute an artistic expression protected under the right to freedom of expression, this presentation will tackle the influence of freedom of expression on the interpretation of this specific copyright exception.
About the speaker
Sabine Jacques joined UEA in 2016 as Lecturer in IP/IT/Media Law. Previously, Sabine achieved a PhD in copyright law at the University of Nottingham where she studied: ‘The Right to Parody? A comparative analysis’. In this research, she has a specific focus on the music industry as she was partially funded by MPA (Music Publishers Association), BASCA (British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors) and PRS for Music (Performing Right Society). She has now turned her thesis into a monograph for OUP which will be available shortly. Before moving to the UK, Sabine obtained her bachelor and master degrees in law at the University of Liège, Belgium. She later graduated cum laude from an LLM in Intellectual Property law and Knowledge Management at Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
For further information please contact CIPIL Administrator, Mr. James Parish jprp2@cam.ac.uk