App Oversteps The Copyright Crease Line

England and Wales Cricket Board Ltd v Tixdaq Ltd and another [2016] EWHC 575 (Ch) is a decision of Mr Justice Arnold concerning an iPhone/iPad app, which allowed the sharing of eight-second clips of sporting events (inspired by the better known Vine app).

The defendants (together "Fanatix"), which also operate a website directed at sport fans, launched the app in 2015 and, amongst many sporting events, it featured footage from Sky's coverage of England v New Zealand cricket games. The ECB objected to this use and sued for copyright infringement.

The dispute centred around whether the eight-second clips amounted to a "substantial part" of ECB's copyright works, namely, broadcasts and films (and so were capable of infringing the works) and, if so, whether the fair dealing defence for "reporting current events" allowed Fanatix to use the footage.