A&E Goes To Court To Defend Fair Use Of 12 Second Clip Of Music
from the this-should-be-interesting dept
Avatar28 points us to a potentially interesting lawsuit over whether or not A&E's decision to use 12-seconds of the song Rocky Top in part of a TV show is fair use. The article is actually pretty comprehensive in laying out all the details in the case. A&E was doing an episode of the show City Confidential about some contract killings in Knoxville, Tennessee. In setting the scene, the show presents quick clips of scenes around Knoxville, including a photo of a UT football player, with the 12-seconds of the song playing in the background. The song Rocky Top is apparently one of (a few) official state songs in Tennessee and is the "unofficial" fight song of the University of Tennessee (which holds a special license to use the song).A&E claims that it's fair use, since the music was being used in part as a news report would use it. The article compares it to both the recent case where John Lennon's Imagine was allowed in the movie Expelled without a license... but also to the infamous Bridgeport ruling that basically said fair use doesn't apply to music at all. Some will say that A&E's case is also weaker because it had approached the children of the songwriters (who now control the copyright) about a license, and then never got one, but that, alone, doesn't change the fair use calculation.
This is one of those cases that really could go either way. As a strong believer in fair use, it shouldn't surprise anyone that I think this is clearly fair use, and that the four factors of fair use support it (as should common sense). But, others will surely make the case in the other direction. The thing that I wonder is how allowing such a use could possibly be a bad thing for the copyright holders. It seems like one of those cases where copyright holders are suing just because they have the copyright and think that, because of that, they absolutely have to sue. Either way, kudos to A&E for standing up for fair use.
Filed Under: a&e, copyright, fair use, music, rocky top, tennessee
