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OVERVIEW
Byrne v. British Broadcasting Corporation
DISCLAIMER:
BBC logo used only to identify adversary
Irish-American recording artist Chris Byrne, familiar to Irish music fans as
Seanchai (pronounced SHAN-a-kee), and as a founder of the Irish musical
group, Black 47, won a court decision giving the green light to a
multimillion-dollar action against the BBC. One of our attorneys was among the counsel who filed the suit in relation to
a BBC Northern Ireland "Spotlight" documentary about an alleged IRA
gunrunning operation in Florida. In this program, the BBC exploited Byrne's
copyrighted musical recording, "Fenians," without license or permission. But
the issues went much deeper than standard copyright infringement. By taking
Byrne's instantly recognizable voice and musical work, the BBC caused him to
be unwillingly associated with a British media company, and an anti-Irish
message, both of which he has publicly opposed for years.
Byrne v. BBC Settled. BBC To Apologize On The Air.
Chris Byrne's case against the BBC has been settled on the basis of a public apology to Byrne and Seanchai by the BBC, together with a reasonable payment to Byrne by the BBC for inadvertently using his music, and a contribution by the BBC toward his legal costs. The apology was read and displayed on the air during the first Spotlight program for the 2001 fall season of BBC Northern Ireland on September 25th. The apology stated as follows: "In a Spotlight programme broadcast on October 5, 1999 the BBC inadvertently breached the copyright of the composer Chris Byrne. The BBC would like to apologise to Byrne and his band Seanchai for this. The BBC also wishes to point out that the use of this composer's music was in no way intended to imply his support for any of the views or opinions expressed or examined in the programme."
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