CIPIL Evening Seminar: 'Music & Drama in UK Copyright Law - Reflections on Recent Case Law'

Speaker: Dr Luke McDonagh, London School of Economics

Biography: Dr Luke McDonagh the LSE Law School in 2020. He undertakes research in the areas of Intellectual Property Law and Constitutional Law. Prior to taking up his position at LSE he was a Senior Lecturer at City, University of London (2015-2020), a Lecturer at Cardiff University (2013-2015) and LSE Fellow (2011-13). Luke holds a PhD from Queen Mary, University of London (2011), an LL.M from the London School of Economics (LSE) (2006-7) and a B.C.L. degree from NUI, Galway (2002-05). He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Abstract: In this talk Dr Luke McDonagh considers two major 2022 cases heard at the courts of England and Wales – the High Court decision in Sheeran v Chokri [2022] EWHC 827 (Ch) and the IPEC decision in Shazam v Only Fools [2022] EWHC 1379 (IPEC). In Sheeran, the High Court of England and Wales took a contextual approach to the idea of copying in music. Rather than focusing on a literal, text-influenced evaluation, Zacaroli J. emphasised that even where the musical phrases in both works are very similar, this does not prove copying. Thus, despite melodic similarity between the disputed parts of the two songs, the English High Court refused to find infringement. This approach to the idea of copying marks a clear distinction from the problematic position of the US courts in Williams v Gaye (2018), which was only partially ameliorated by the later ruling in Skidmore v Led Zeppelin (2020). Meanwhile, in Shazam v Only Fools the IPEC confirmed, for the first time in the UK, that a character from a TV script (dramatic work) could be protected in its own right under copyright, but apparently placed this character under the banner of literary work rather than dramatic. The case is also notable for highlighting the weakness of the parody defence to copyright infringement.

This event is a hybrid event. If you are in Cambridge, please do join us in the Faculty. To attend online you must register via Zoom.