HL Deb 02 November 1988 vol 501 cc236-7

30 Clause 30, page 12, line 44, leave out 'or' and insert 'does not infringe any copyright in the work provided that it is accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement. (1A) Fair dealing with a work (other than a photograph)'.

Lord Strathclyde

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 30.

Clause 30 extends the exceptions in the 1956 Act which allow fair dealing with a literary, dramatic or musical work for the purposes of reporting current events to cover all works, thereby removing anomalies. Concern has been expressed by photographers that this rationalisation of the fair dealing provision goes too far. It is claimed that Clause 30 is a charter for plagiarism and will completely undermine the copyright on which news photographers rely for their livelihoods.

We believed these concerns to be misconceived. For copying to be permitted under this clause two criteria must be satisfied; namely, it must be fair and it must be for reporting current events. The first of these is as significant as the second. A newspaper would not be able to reproduce a rival's photograph of the Olympics and claim the benefit of Clause 30 because the copying involved would not be fair dealing.

Although this line of argument satisfied such distinguished lawyers as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Denning, when this matter was discussed in your Lordships' House, I regret to say that it has not eased the worries of photographers. They make the point that, even if we are right in our interpretation of Clause 30, they should not be put to the trouble of having to argue the fairness of copying in court. Given that we find it difficult to find examples of cases where the exception could apply, we concluded that we should not provide a current affairs exception for photographs. To retain Clause 30 as it stands would he perfectly proper but we are prepared to remove the widespread alarm this has caused in the photographic community, and Amendment No. 30 does this.

Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 30.—(Lord Strathclyde.)

Lord Peston

My Lords, we accept the Government's general position on current affairs matters and we believe that they are right to reassure photographers in this connection. As we have argued before, we believe that photographers have not had as fair a deal as they might. This is a good move on the part of the Government and we support it.

Lord Kilbracken

My Lords, the exclusion of photographs in this clause was a point that I raised during the passage of the Bill through your Lordships' House. I am glad to see that the Commons has seen the wisdom of my remarks.

On Question, Motion agreed to.