Disney alleged of copyright infringement

Quite often, residents in California are likely to be most used to hearing about large corporations taking strong steps to protect their intellectual property. These giants may at times be seen as squashing down on smaller players, even individuals, in an effort to maintain their brand integrity and prevent unlawful infringements of the uses of their original works. Interestingly, today it is one of the big companies that is a defendant in such a lawsuit.

As explained by The Hollywood Reporter, mogul Disney and ABC, which is owned by Disney, have been named in a lawsuit that accuses them of copyright infringement. At the heart of the matter are clips used by Disney in the making of a documentary about the late entertainer, Michael Jackson. The film includes snips from the singer’s music videos and a concert film.

More used to trying to prevent others from using copyrighted material, this time Disney is calling upon protections often granted to the news media to defend its use of the material. Laws do grant news organizations, of which ABC is one, to use small portions of works in the name of journalistic efforts and public education. The amounts used should be less than one percent.

Also part of what Disney is relying on as part of its defense is the right to free speech as granted by the First Amendment as well as a law called the Copyright Act which does grant what it calls some fair use of protected material by others.