I'm working through some legal language in a contract regarding the distribution of copies of some digital media (in this case music recordings) and am wondering, when a copyright statement forbids "distributing copies of this recording, in whole or in part" - how big does a part have to be?
I'm primarily interested in a definition under UK law.
Can anyone point me to the appropriate guidelines?
Not sure about the UK, however "in part" for lay people is typically described as "any" part.
I dont think that can really be applied, any part means that by making this post I am distributing at least two or three "parts" of my favorite song as the post contains the following bytes 0x20, 0x0A, 0x0D.
Id say that what constitutes a "part" is a question for a lawyer, not a geek.
I dont think that can really be applied, any part means that by making this post I am distributing at least two or three "parts" of my favorite song as the post contains the following bytes 0x20, 0x0A, 0x0D.
Id say that what constitutes a "part" is a question for a lawyer, not a geek.
0x20, 0x0A, and 0x0D are not unique parts of your favorite song. A part must be recognizable. A few notes, a bar, lyrics, etc.
Thanks for the responses guys.
I had a pointer to the relevant (for my purposes) piece of UK law, which is the "Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988". As anticipated there is no hard and fast rule, however the UK law does indicate that an infringement of copyright would need to involve a "substantial part" of an existing work - where various factors beyond the simple quantity of the copied portion come into play.
Thanks for the responses guys.
I had a pointer to the relevant (for my purposes) piece of UK law, which is the "Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988". As anticipated there is no hard and fast rule, however the UK law does indicate that an infringement of copyright would need to involve a "substantial part" of an existing work - where various factors beyond the simple quantity of the copied portion come into play.
Possibly unrelated, but on a trial of plagiarism (a known one here in Italy has been the Michael Jackson - Albano Carrisi one over "Will You Be There")
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the issue - if I recall correctly - was about the fact that a sequence of more than 7 (seven) notes (with the same or similar duration and accent) was to be considered plagiarism.
An article about a preliminary ruling
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A final ruling established that both were "inspired" by an American indian song, not protected by copyright "Bless You For Being An Angel".
You can judge yourself
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jaclaz