#fair dealing

For Immediate Release: August 18, 1997       

(London) - In the first legal action against an Oasis fan site owner, Sony and Creation Records filed an injunction to shut down Derek Gorman’s Oasis fan site. The injunction was filed after it was discovered that several sound clips from unreleased tracks from the upcoming Be Here Now album were on the site.

Gorman had distributed clips from several songs on his web site after downloading them from the Sony Music Brazil website, however was not selling them. Sony Music Entertainment (UK) contacted Gorman’s Internet service provider and had his webpage terminated August 12. Sony and Creation Records filed a “writ of summons” to prevent further distribution of the unreleased materials.

“I think this action is unfortunate,” said Jack Martin, head of the Oasis Webmasters for Internet Freedom. “While one of the original concerns of Oasis’ management was that songs would be released on the Internet before the official release date, the files in question were already available through one of Sony’s sites.”

Martin reaffirmed the OWIF’s support of Oasis’ right to determine when songs will be released. “There is a difference between publishing part of songs that have already been released or a photo from the official site, and publishing clips from songs that have yet to be released.” The fact that the songs were already available through an official source blurs the line between what is released or unreleased, he continued. “Whether or not this action would have been taken if the album was already on the market remains to be seen,” he said.

While acknowledging Oasis’ right to release new material, the OWIF still maintains the right of fan site owners to use many other copyrighted materials, providing the use falls under the “fair use” doctrine (“fair dealing” in the UK.)

Martin added that he thought that this action would not affect the majority of Oasis sites, saying it was an “isolated incident” and noted that the official release date for BHN is just days away, making any further early release incidents unlikely.

Another writ was filed at approximately the same time against Steven Crockett. Crockett had allegedly been selling copies of all or part of BHN.

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