Sky TV "lost its bid for an interim injunction against Fairfax Media regarding the use of its Olympic Games footage," according to Cowlishaw & Dennett of STUFF. Sky TV sought the judgment arguing Fairfax, publisher of Stuff, was "effectively stealing" its material under the guise of fair use. Lawyers for Fairfax argued there was "nothing outrageous" about its use of the TV station's footage.
But on Friday at the High Court in Auckland, Justice John Fogarty "ruled it was impossible to decide what was fair use in such a short hearing." Fairfax Group Exec Editor Sinead Boucher said that "the decision to dismiss Sky's interim injunction application was a win for New Zealanders and for press freedom in New Zealand." Fairfax "was supported in court by TVNZ and NZME who shared the company's concerns about the right for media to cover events of national significance." Justice Fogarty said in his ruling that "news coverage had changed drastically in the past few years and the public now had an expectation coverage online would be accompanied by short video and/or photos." Fogarty: "As I have said previously, the standard of fair dealing is just that, it's a standard, not a rule. It cannot be applied precisely." Fogarty "did address a point raised by Sky that rolling video clips on Stuff could be judged unfair use." Central to the injunction application was what constituted "fair use," the court heard.
Sky's guidelines "stipulated that two minutes of footage was fair for websites, and up to six minutes for television networks." Sky TV lawyer Julian Miles QC claimed that "Fairfax exploited Sky footage for its own commercial gain." He said that "Fairfax had gone beyond its duty to inform and was simply providing entertainment by publishing the videos." Miles: "You can't steal other people's copyright and then say we do so because our public has expectations. The law doesn't permit that" (STUFF, 8/12). RADIO NZ reported meanwhile, Sports Minister Jonathan Coleman said that "it was not realistic to require international sport to be played live on free-to-air television." New Zealand First "has been critical of the decision by Sky to delay Olympic coverage on its free-to-air channel Prime, while events were broadcast live to its paying viewers." Sports spokesperson Clayton Mitchell said that "the government should follow Australia and Britain and require broadcasters to show major sporting events, such as the Olympics, on free-to-air television." Coleman said that "would come at a cost for taxpayers." Coleman said, "If you look at the fiscal position of governments in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K., we're the country where we are managing to balance our books, and all the things that you're talking about, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone has to pay the bill for that coverage" (RADIO NZ, 8/12).
