A Journalist's Guide to Copyright Law and Eyewitness Media
First Draft (2016), 52 pp.
"Eyewitness media (videos, photographs and audio clips captured by individuals at the scene of a news event) has become critical to how stories are discovered and reported. News organisations have used eyewitness media in the aftermath of nearly every major news event of the past decade1 and many newsrooms now have dedicated teams or specialists focused on the monitoring and verification of content shared online. Newsgathering on social media raises a wide range of questions: ethical questions around immediately contacting people who may have witnessed a truly tragic event; managerial questions around viewing pictures that could be deeply distressing; and legal questions around the right to use this content without infringing on copyright. The latter range of questions is the focus of this guide. Our goal is for readers to come away with an understanding of how copyright laws apply to eyewitness media and to highlight some of the pitfalls that news organisations should avoid when looking to use it in their reporting. [...]
Although case law is limited, in this guide we will look at some cases that have been brought against news organisations and discuss how they may help us to understand what newsrooms can and cannot do when using eyewitness media. This guide is designed to give an overview of eyewitness media and copyright law regimes. We start by offering some thoughts about the use of eyewitness media by news organisations and the workflows that they need to follow before deciding to publish a piece of content. We show how these processes should actually help protect the copyright holder as well as allow news organisations to balance the need for speed with respect for the law. We look at some of the misconceptions around copyright in relation to the social media platforms and explore the dichotomy between digital news and analogue law — especially as platforms emerge that provide new opportunities.
We then turn to specific countries and jurisdictions. We look at six legal regimes in some of the leading global news markets and discuss the challenges for news organisations headquartered in these countries. A review of each legal context is accompanied by short interviews with journalists and editors from major news organisations in each country to illustrate how they have attempted to address the need to use eyewitness media while also respecting copyright. An important discussion here is to compare the terms fair use and fair dealing. These terms are often used (and misused) as a defence for featuring an eyewitness photograph or video discovered on social media without copyright clearance. However, it’s important to understand that these terms present different legal considerations from country to country." (Introduction, pages 6-7)
Although case law is limited, in this guide we will look at some cases that have been brought against news organisations and discuss how they may help us to understand what newsrooms can and cannot do when using eyewitness media. This guide is designed to give an overview of eyewitness media and copyright law regimes. We start by offering some thoughts about the use of eyewitness media by news organisations and the workflows that they need to follow before deciding to publish a piece of content. We show how these processes should actually help protect the copyright holder as well as allow news organisations to balance the need for speed with respect for the law. We look at some of the misconceptions around copyright in relation to the social media platforms and explore the dichotomy between digital news and analogue law — especially as platforms emerge that provide new opportunities.
We then turn to specific countries and jurisdictions. We look at six legal regimes in some of the leading global news markets and discuss the challenges for news organisations headquartered in these countries. A review of each legal context is accompanied by short interviews with journalists and editors from major news organisations in each country to illustrate how they have attempted to address the need to use eyewitness media while also respecting copyright. An important discussion here is to compare the terms fair use and fair dealing. These terms are often used (and misused) as a defence for featuring an eyewitness photograph or video discovered on social media without copyright clearance. However, it’s important to understand that these terms present different legal considerations from country to country." (Introduction, pages 6-7)
