UK legalises parodies of music and videos
UK legislation allowing the parody of films, TV shows and music has come into force on Wednesday.
Under an amendment to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, UK citizens will be able to use a limited amount of copyrighted material on online video platforms such as YouTube "for the purposes of parody, of parody, caricature or pastiche" without the prior consent of the copyright holder.
The material must be fair and not compete with the original version.
Previously, people in the UK were are risk of being sued for creating parody 'mash-ups' or spoof videos using unauthorised clips from film, TV and music videos.
Now owners of the copyrighted works will only be able to sue if the parody conveys a discriminatory message or if it detracts from any commercial exploitation of the copyrighted work.
"The only, and essential, characteristics of parody are, on the one hand, to evoke an existing work while being noticeably different from it and, on the other, to constitute an expression of humour or mockery," the new European Copyright Directive said.
"If a parody conveys a discriminatory message (for example, by replacing the original characters with people wearing veils and people of colour), the holders of the rights to the work parodied have, in principle, a legitimate interest in ensuring that their work is not associated with such a message."
The new legislation comes in response to the growing popularity of video parodies and 'mash-ups' on online platforms such as YouTube.
Bart Baker was a big hit on YouTube with his spoof of Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball, with more than 50m views. Barker also produced satirical versions of Katy Perry's Dark Horse, which gained 50m views and Taylor Swift's 22, which had 22m views.
In the UK, Cassette Boy, who is known for his online mash-up parodies of shows including The Apprentice and Dragons' Den, has complained that previous rules meant he had to negotiate many legal issues and potentially be taken to court.