Performing Rights Society v Rangers FC Supporters Club, 1974, SC 49
Citation: Performing Rights Society v Rangers FC Supporters Club, 1974, SC 49
Rule of thumb: Can private members clubs show live sports without the proper television packages? No, the fact it is a private members club makes no difference – this is not a loophole in the rules.
Judgment:
The Court in this case affirmed ‘private use’ as one of the exemptions for copyright, but affirmed that private use operated on a spectrum in many cases, as many of the exemptions often do. The Court held that what the circumstances when a party would be considered ‘private’ and when it would be considered public, with the payment of an entry fee generally being regarded as the basic difference between the 2, although there is even a need for a license to use the copyright if the private party gathering iss fairly large, ‘At one end of the spectrum there is what has been described as the domestic situation. At the other end is the situation where the promoter invites the public to attend the performance on payment of an entry fee.... Domestic has been extended to include “semi-domestic”... In a situation where a person organises a private party in his home, then it seems reasonable to assume that the unauthorised publication or use of the copyright work is not rebounding to the financial disadvantage of the owner of copyright, since the selected audience is not enjoying the work under conditions in which they would normally pay for the privilege in one form or another. A performance of the work in such circumstances would ordinarily be regarded as private’, Lord Justice Clerk Wheatley, 59
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