DR found not guilty

by Charlotte Jensen 62 views

DR has been found not guilty in a case regarding rightful credit in relation to the postcards used for the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest held in Copenhagen. DR was originally found guilty, but an appeal court has now decided in favour of the Danish broadcaster.

DR had hired an external producer for the postcards, but they did not credit every single person that in some way had been involved in making the postcards shown in between the songs. From the producer they had received a long list with the names of everyone involved. DR however returned the list saying which ones they did not have to give credit to according to the law of copyright. This included a helicopter pilot! One of the ones not being given credit contacted DR insisting to have his name mentioned. DR then asked for further information about what this person exactly had been doing, information they never received and therefore this person was not being given credit.

“Film – og TV arbejderforbundet” (Film and TV worker union) got involved in the case and sued DR. At first DR was found guilty and had to pay 100,000 dkr (13,500 euros) in compensation to this person not being credited for his work on the postcards. DR however appealed and has now been found not guilty. According to the court DR acted in good will as they did not receive any information showing that the person had been doing work which according to the law of copyright deserves rightful credit.