Seven to fight copyright claim over Hey Hey clip

Seven is set to fight a legal challenge from Daryl Somers around use of a clip owned by Somers Enterprises Australia.

The Herald Sun reports Somers Enterprises Australia filed legal action in the Federal Court on October 17 against the Seven Network claiming Seven breached copyright by using footage of Farnham performing My Yiddeshe Mama with Tom Jones in Spotlight: John Farnham: The Lost Tapes in August.

Following a complaint from Somers team, Seven removed the episode from 7plus.

In the Statement of Claim filed by Somers Enterprises Australia, it is argued Seven had the opportunity to ask for permission to use the footage but didn’t.

“Prior to airing the broadcast of the Seven Program, a representative of (Seven) contacted SEA (Somers Enterprises Australia) to ask whether Mr Somers was willing to be interviewed for the .. program; (Seven) had the opportunity to seek a licence for the use of the Copyright Works, but did not do so,” the document states.

SEA is claiming “damage to SEA’s commercial reputation by broadcasting and streaming inferior quality footage of the performance” and missing out on profits “as people who would have paid to subscribe to heyhey.tv in order to watch the performance … will not do so because they viewed the performance for free on the Seven program.”

The clip is currently also visible on social media.

TV Tonight understands Seven will defend the footage use under “Fair Dealing.”

Daryl Somers recently announced he was happy to pass Dancing with the Stars hosting duties to new host Dr. Chris Brown and thanked Seven execs.