BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is being sued by the producer of the Cosby Show for copyright infringement in their latest documentary about the fall of Bill Cosby after Cosby’s sexual assault allegations were revealed. Carsey-Werner company, the producer of the Cosby Show, claims the BBC documentary unlawfully added several visual and music clips from the show. The documentary, “Bill Cosby – Fall of an American Icon”, included a lot of content from the show making up about seven percent of the whole documentary.
Carsey-Werner affirms that the BBC knowingly used copyrighted clips and when the documentary was released in June, they sent a notice pointing out the content was not allowed by the company. Before the broadcast, BBC had months to get permission from Carsey-Werner to use the copyrighted material. The notice also included a request that BBC not rebroadcast the documentary and the copyrighted content be “removed immediately”.
BBC has not responded yet to the lawsuit but Carsey-Werner is asking for seventy-five thousand dollars in damages for profits gained from the documentary and for the trial itself. The trial may revolve around whether the copyrighted content is fair use questioning the purpose and effect the content had in the documentary about the Bill Cosby scandal.
Fair use is a legal doctrine where some small content of a copyrighted material can be used without permission depending on the purpose. This typically applies for news, commentary, education. Courts look at the amount of material used to determine if it is not affecting the original owner of its ability to profit from its creation.
Thank you Bhavini Mistry for your contributions with this article.
Carsey-Werner affirms that the BBC knowingly used copyrighted clips and when the documentary was released in June, they sent a notice pointing out the content was not allowed by the company. Before the broadcast, BBC had months to get permission from Carsey-Werner to use the copyrighted material. The notice also included a request that BBC not rebroadcast the documentary and the copyrighted content be “removed immediately”.
BBC has not responded yet to the lawsuit but Carsey-Werner is asking for seventy-five thousand dollars in damages for profits gained from the documentary and for the trial itself. The trial may revolve around whether the copyrighted content is fair use questioning the purpose and effect the content had in the documentary about the Bill Cosby scandal.
Fair use is a legal doctrine where some small content of a copyrighted material can be used without permission depending on the purpose. This typically applies for news, commentary, education. Courts look at the amount of material used to determine if it is not affecting the original owner of its ability to profit from its creation.
Thank you Bhavini Mistry for your contributions with this article.