Whats the difference between “fair dealing” and “fair comment”?
A. Sometimes programme-makers confuse ‘fair dealing’ with ‘fair comment’. Whilst they are both terms which denote a defence in law, they are entirely different. Fair comment is a defence to an action for defamation i.e. libel or slander, and protects honestly held opinion (not statements of fact), based on true facts, expressed on matters of public interest. Fair dealing, on the other hand, has nothing to do with defamation. It is a defence to copyright infringement, where a copyright work is being used either in order to review or critique it or another work, or is being used in order to report a current event (and in both cases, a sufficient acknowledgement of ‘title and author’ is given).
