Carsey-Werner Company, the producer of The Cosby Show, has filed a lawsuit against BBC for allegedly using too much-copyrighted material in a documentary titled Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Icon.
The lawsuit was launched in California federal court Friday against BBC and Sugar Films Limited, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
According to the complaint, Fall included 8 audiovisual clips (one of which appears 3 times) and 2 music cues from The Cosby Show. Carsey-Werners permission for such use of the Clips and the Cues was neither sought nor given. The total cumulative running time of the Infringed Works is 234 seconds, which represents 6.5% of the total running time of Fall.â
Fall was first broadcast last June, around the time that star Bill Cosby stood trial for allegedly raping Andrea Constand in 2004. The documentary was then made available online.
Carsey-Werner alleges defendants willfully infringed copyrights and points to how the clips were shown in Fall over a caption reading The Cosby Show â Carsey-Werner Company/Bill Cosby.
The plaintiff also says the day that âFallâ was broadcast, it sent a warning to BBC that the documentary shouldnât be rebroadcast, which it later was.
BBC and Sugar Films sought to profit directly from the use of the copyrighted material without having to pay a license fee to Carsey-Werner by using the inherent entertainment value of The Cosby Show to entertain viewers,â alleges the complaint being handled by attorney Alexander Rufus-Isaacs.
âIf they had wanted to draw The Cosby Show to viewersâ attention simply in order to create a reference point, Defendants could have done so without using copyrighted material. Instead, they deliberately used the Clips on 10 separate occasions, no doubt because they knew that showing such a large number of clips from this famous show would appeal to viewers. The Cues further seek to capitalize on The Cosby Showâs popularity.â
Like BlackAmericaWeb.com on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
[ione_media_gallery id=”2982″ overlay=”true”]
Sign Up For Our Newsletter!
(AP Photo/File)
fair use copyright disclaimer Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
It is illegal to make a false copyright claim and such actions may lead to our party seeking compensation for losses.
These postings are published by myself to my personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and should not be taken as fact. The validity of any evidence provided should be independently checked for authenticity, and I take no responsibility for the actions of those reading the articles or viewing the videos.
Copyright © 2020 The Church Lady Blogs, all rights reserved.