HomeArticles What licence do you need if you provide online news service
What licence do you need if you provide online news service
The Newspaper Licensing Agency Limited (“Agency”) manages the intellectual property rights of its members by licensing and collecting the licensing fees from users for making copies of newspaper content. The Agency has a number of licensing schemes, including:
A web database licence to license media-monitoring organisations; and
A web end-user licence to license those who receive and use such services.
During a recent case, it has been confirmed that when an online media monitoring service enters into a licence with the Agency, its end users also need a licence. These are the reasons:
By receiving and reading the online monitor news, whether by e-mail or by accessing it via the online media monitoring website, the end users make a copy of the news and the copyright material contained in it without the consent of the owner, which is prohibited under section 17 of the Copyright Designs and Patent Act 1988 (“the Act”). The end users are also in possession of a copyright infringing copy in the course of business under section 23 of the Act. Although a licence to provide a service (for example between the NLA and the online service provider) might import an implied licence to receive it, but it could not import an implied licence to make further copies of licensed material.
A hyperlink to each relevant article, which is the headline from the article as it appears on the publisher's website. By clicking on a hyperlink to an article, the end user makes a copy of the article (section 17of the Act) and was in possession of an infringing copy (section 23 of the Act).
Some of the headlines to the publishers' articles can be independent literary works and those that are not may form part of the articles to which they relate, which may also be capable of being literary works and therefore protected under the Act. The headlines involved considerable skill in devising and were specifically designed to entice by informing the reader of the content of the article in an entertaining manner.
The opening words of the article after the headline. Since the Infopaq case (which we have referred to in our previous article) no distinction should be made between the part and the whole, provided that the part contained "elements which [were] the expression of the intellectual creation of the author". There is no need for the part to be a "substantial part"; originality rather than substantiality was the test to be applied to the part extracted.
An extract from the article showing the context in which the search term appears copying the search term and some words immediately preceding and following it. In considering whether the text extracts constituted a substantial part of the articles under section 16(3) of the Act, even a very small part of an original article might be protected by copyright, if it showed the stamp of individuality reflective of the creation of the author of the article. Whether it did so was a question of fact and degree in each case.
By forwarding the online news or its contents to clients, an end user issued copies of the work to the public under section 18 of the Act.
All articles are for general purposes and guidance only and do not constitute legal or professional advice. Copyright 2010 Anassutzi & Co Limited. All rights reserved. Information may be shared or reproduced only if accompanied by the author’s name and bio.
Add comment
Newsletter
Newsletter
Subscribe to our FREE newsletter.
Required *
We are proud to be associated with the Business & IP Centre
Articles 
