The Panel copyright decision

The effect of last year’s High Court decision on The Panel’s use of short segment’s of other station’s programs was dependent on whether the segments were "substantial".

Ten’s program "The Panel" contained 20 brief excerpts from programmes previously broadcast by Channel Nine. The Panel Segments ranged in duration from eight to 42 seconds. They were taken from programmes of the usual advertised length of 30 minutes to one hour.

Channel Nine alleged infringement of copyright.

At trial and on appeal Ten made out a fair dealing defence in respect of nine extracts.  The dispute
still to be resolved was whether the remaining 11 extracts that were copied and
re-broadcast were "substantial" parts of the programmes from which they were
taken.  Only if they were "substantial" parts of those programmes will
Nine’s copyright be infringed.

Nine argued that each visual image capable of being observed as a separate image on a television
screen and accompanying sounds is "a television broadcast" in which copyright subsists. Channel Ten argued that the excerpts were too insignificant to constitute a broadcast and therefore did not attract the protection of copyright.

The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia has now applied the High Court ruling to the facts of the case.

The court found that Channel Ten infringed Channel Nine’s  broadcast copyright in relation to the following extracts from Channel Nine’s programs: The Inaugural Allan Border Medal Dinner, Midday
(Prime Minister singing Happy Birthday), Wide World of Sports (Grand Final
Celebration/Glen Lazarus cartwheel), Australia’s Most Wanted (re-enactment
of stabbing by party gatecrashers), Pick Your Face (Kerri-Anne Kennerley) and
The Today Show (child yawning).

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