THIS LADY’S NOT FOR QUOTING

Outlaw draws attention to an article in the Independent which reports that Baroness Thatcher is bringing copyright proceedings against the BBC in the High Court. Baroness Thatcher alleges that the BBC infringed her copyright in her televised memoirs “Mrs Thatcher – the Downing Street Years” by broadcasting a trailer containing a clip of her describing the conspiracy that led to her downfall as "treachery with a smile on its face". The BBC admits the infringement, but the parties have not been able to agree on suitable damages. Hugh Scully, chairman of Fine Art production company, which shares the copyright with Thatcher, has said:

“A licence for the use of our archive in this way was always completely out of the question. Perhaps that is why we were never asked."

You can bet she won’t be handbagged…

The IPKat notes that this reopens the thorny issue of what damages are appropriate when the IPR owner would not have granted a licence. It is often viewed as unsatisfactory to grant a notional licence fee when such a licence could never have come into existence.

More iron ladies here, here and here