AF7430 Chap.6 Parody, Confidentiality and Filming in Public
Parody, Confidentiality and Filming in Public
Two techniques the law treats separately
Parody deliberately imitates the manner of a famous person, or of a recognisable situation, so as to make the qualities of the original stand out in a way that is funny. Satire criticises people or ideas humorously, especially to make a political point.
Both invite accusations of defamation, and the course adds blasphemy, discrimination and advocacy of anti-government sentiment to what else they can attract.
Courts generally give humour a wide margin on the footing that a reasonable person knows when a statement is made in jest, and one human rights court characterised satire as artistic expression and social comment that, because it works by overstating and by bending reality, sets out by its nature to provoke and unsettle, adding that interference with the right to use it deserves particularly careful scrutiny.
Notice what that protects: exaggeration and distortion, not a false assertion of fact wrapped in a joke.
The satire case that never reached the satire
A public broadcaster's satirical current-affairs programme ran an episode making remarks about the police; complaints followed, the regulator made findings against the broadcaster, and the broadcaster accepted them and suspended the programme.
Two unions sought judicial review.
The court held that the broadcaster, being a government department rather than a legal person, could not itself hold a right to freedom of speech; that it was open to the regulator to find the content might denigrate or insult officers by reference to their social status; and that whether reasonable efforts had been made to keep a satirical remark accurate in its facts was in the first instance for the regulator.
One finding, on the range of views presented, was set aside. The judge recorded expressly that the court made no finding and offered no opinion on whether the remark was accurate, which is why the decision teaches judicial review rather than comedy.
Confidence binds people who signed nothing
An obligation of confidence may exist whether or not the parties ever had a contract.
A serving employee who copies a customer list breaches an implied obligation even where no clause prohibits it, and the harder case, the former employee using information acquired during employment in a new business, is caught by the doctrine of confidence operating independently of contract.
Three elements are needed: the information must be confidential in itself, it must have been imparted in circumstances of confidence, and it must have been used without authority so as to cause detriment.
Two exits sit outside the ring: information already in the public domain, and a public interest in correcting a false image that its subject fostered.
Four disputes that map those exits
The pitch case matters most to anyone developing a project: a group brought an idea for a drama to a writer, who took it to a producer and a broadcaster; the group was paid to keep it confidential pending a decision and accepted that other performers might be cast; the project died and the same people made a closely resembling series.
The court found breach of contract and breach of confidence, and no infringement of copyright. That split is the lesson.
Elsewhere, performers who courted publicity about their private lives could not stop a former employee selling unflattering true stories, a couple who had sold exclusive wedding photographs could not stop a rival publishing its own, a musician could not restrain a book repeating what he had already told the press, and a supermodel photographed leaving a therapy meeting succeeded because the activity captured was private even though the place was not.
Permission and privacy are two different questions
In most countries no government permission is needed to film in a public place, and the published local guidance says so with named exceptions: government property, anything resembling the uniforms or equipment of the government forces, modified firearms and blank ammunition, road closures and special-effects material.
Productions are encouraged to notify the police of the date, time, place and scenario, especially for fighting, pursuits and toy weapons. Separately, people in public have already surrendered part of their privacy, so provided nobody is shown in an offensive, defamatory or belittling way and no unreasonable intrusion occurs, individual permission is not needed.
A crowd release notice adds protection where an area is enclosed and entry is a choice.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Parody and satire, and the margin courts give to humour
- 02
Why a challenge to a regulator is argued on procedure rather than on content
- 03
Confidence with and without a contract
- 04
The three elements, and the two ways out of them
- 05
Why an idea can be protected by confidence when copyright protects nothing
- 06
Filming permissions and the named exceptions
- 07
Reasonable expectation of privacy even in a public place
- 08
What a crowd release notice can and cannot do
- 09
The data-protection claim that failed, and what else was available
Three objections from one afternoon on one street
- 3Deal with the passer-by and state the rule that answers it.
- 3Deal with the clinic doorway and identify what turns a frame into a disclosure.
- 3Deal with the shop and explain why it is a different kind of problem.
Key terms
- Parody
- Work that deliberately imitates the manner of a famous person, or of a recognisable situation, so that the qualities of the original stand out in a way that is funny.
- Satire
- Humorous criticism of people or ideas, especially to make a political point, and described by one court as aiming by exaggeration to provoke and agitate.
- Judicial Review
- A challenge to how a public body exercised a power rather than to whether its conclusion was correct, which is the form most regulator disputes take.
- Duty Of Confidence
- An obligation not to use information given in confidence, which exists whether or not there was a contract and outlives the employment that created it.
- Public Domain
- The state of information that has already been disclosed, which removes the duty of confidence because there is nothing left to protect.
- Crowd Release Notice
- A sign posted at every entrance to an enclosed filming area, stating that entry constitutes consent to be recorded and that those who disagree should not enter.
- Reasonable Expectation
- The standard by which privacy is assessed, which can survive in a public place whenever what is captured is itself a private activity.
Parody, Confidentiality and Filming in Public FAQ
Do I need permission to film on a public street?
Generally no. The published police guidance states that location filming in public places does not usually require government permission, with named exceptions: property under government control, anything resembling the uniforms or equipment of the government forces, modified firearms and blank ammunition, road closures, and special-effects material.
The stated policy is to facilitate location filming so far as compatible with maintaining law and order, and productions are encouraged to give advance notice of date, time, place and scenario, particularly for fighting, pursuits or toy weapons.
Do I need a release from everyone who walks through the shot?
In practice you cannot obtain one, and the law does not require it. Once people are in a public space they have surrendered part of their right to privacy, so provided you show nobody in an offensive, defamatory or belittling way and intrude on nobody unreasonably, filming them does not require permission.
A crowd release notice posted at every entrance and exit adds real protection in an enclosed area, because entering is then a choice, but on an open street nobody chooses to enter.
Is a pitched idea protected if nothing was signed?
Possibly, by confidence rather than by copyright. Copyright protects expression and not the underlying idea, which is exactly what a reported pitch dispute found, yet the same court held that the writer, producer and broadcaster had breached both contract and confidence by making a closely resembling series.
The three elements can be satisfied at a pitch: a developed format can be confidential in itself, a pitch meeting is a classic occasion of confidence, and using it to make a competing programme is detriment.
Assessment move
Watch ten minutes of any street-shot documentary with the sound off and list every person on screen, then say for each whether you would have needed a release, a location permission, both or neither. Then turn the sound on and see how many of your answers change because of what the narration says.
That exercise teaches the chapter's central point faster than the cases do: the frame is rarely the problem and the commentary often is.
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