filming footage from tv as legal workaround

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dilby

Member
Hi all -

I need to get some sports footage for a potential doco and the license holder (sports governing body) for the footage (it was a telecast international game of cricket) are being particularly difficult to deal with. It essentially seems I need a small fortune to stand any chance of getting my hands on it, which I just don't have.

I live in the UK but seem to remember from my days in Australia that a workaround was to film the footage from a tv which I believe was called second handing within the trade (or at least by a few professionals I knew). I'm wondering if there's any workarounds like this that people know of that would work in the UK, and what country these laws would need to apply in? I am producing this doco in the UK, but the governing body is based in the middle east, and I hope to distribute overseas. So which country do these laws come down to?

I realise there's a lot of legal stuff I need to learn if I pursue documentary which I plan to, but this is an initial question I need answered in order to make some quick decisions!

Thanks
 
I doubt you will find anyone on the forum with the legal knowledge to assist unless they have an exact direct reference. Exact being the operative word.
 
Yep, you need an expert to help you. You can make use of the material if it is fair dealing. You and your expert have to decide if it falls under the legal definition and even if you feel you are in the right to use it under fair dealing laws, that won't stop the copyright owner from suing you to see if it stands up in court. Since it sounds like you already contacted the copyright owner and that is a matter of record, that could go against you.

From https://www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright

Criticism, review and reporting current events

Fair dealing for criticism, review or quotation is allowed for any type of copyright work. Fair dealing with a work for the purpose of reporting current events is allowed for any type of copyright work other than a photograph. In each of these cases, a sufficient acknowledgement will be required.

As stated, a photograph cannot be reproduced for the purpose of reporting current events. The intention of the law is to prevent newspapers or magazines reproducing photographs for reporting current events which have appeared in competitor’s publications.
 
Short version: I doubt that "workaround" in and of itself will work; it wouldn't in the US. And I'd also guess that if the rights holder discovered your use, they might make your life a hell of legal proceedings and legal bills...and that's all before a possible judgement against you (or an exoneration). So could your use be considered as criticism, etc?

What many Commonwealth countries call "fair dealing" is called "fair use" in the US. IIRC, the concepts are similar but not exactly equivalent. That said, about 10 years ago, some people here in the US developed an approach to fair use that appears reasonable and fair enough to get support from E&O insurance companies. It's worth a read, I'd say, even if you aren't in the US.

Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use
http://cmsimpact.org/code/documentary-filmmakers-statement-of-best-practices-in-fair-use/

Anyway, the "capturing something on TV" gambit doesn't work. In fact, incidentally capturing of something on TV (Jon Else filming an interview for Sing Faster while The Simpsons played in the background...and then being told by Fox that it'd cost him US$10,000 to clear that footage for use) was one of many incidents that built up motivation to develop the Best Practices statement.

In the UK, Channel 4 (as you might expect) has what looks to me to be a good general introduction to fair dealing for documentary filmmaking in their producer's handbook:
http://www.channel4.com/producers-handbook/c4-guidelines/fair-dealing-guidelines


Yep, it's a drag. If you want to find out for sure, get good legal advice from someone in the UK with experience clearing media for documentary films.

Jim "more than willing to be corrected by someone with direct UK experience on these issues" Feeley
 
Last edited:
dilby said:
Hi all -

I need to get some sports footage for a potential doco and the license holder (sports governing body) for the footage (it was a telecast international game of cricket) are being particularly difficult to deal with. It essentially seems I need a small fortune to stand any chance of getting my hands on it, which I just don't have.
Click to expand...
Then you are basically out of luck and need to find some other footage.
How about some footage from a local club?

Pond5 has some short Cricket footage for a reasonable price (some below $100):
https://www.pond5.com/stock-video-footage/1/cricket.html
 
This is a bit extreme, but it was part of a newscast one night... To beat an embargo while the game was still playing, a reporter and intern set up a video game system, selected the proper teams and people, then got the approximate same plays performed. Chop it down for the sports section and go with it. Was pure genius but a huge amount of work and was not repeated again.
 
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