A Court Win For An Irishman With Roots In Montauk
Byrne v. British Broadcasting Corporation
The East Hampton Independent - 3/16/01
DISCLAIMER:
BBC logo used only to identify adversary
BY NANCY HYDEN WOODWARD
Irish music fans know hip-hop artist Chris Byrne as Seanchai (pronounced SHAN-a-kee) and as a founder of the Irish band Black 47. British Broadcasting Corporation Northern Ireland knows the American-born musician as an expensive thorn in its legal side, one that will be costly to remove.
In an 18-page decision handed down earlier this month in Manhattan Federal Court, U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein set the stage for the Irish music icon and former owner of The Shebeen in Montauk to take his multi-million-dollar suit against the conglomerate to trial. Byrne's suit arose after the BBC "Spotlight" documentary on alleged Irish Republican Army gun-running operation from Florida aired in October 1999. Without his consent, the program's producers injected Byrne's familiar voice and his copyrighted song "Fenians" in its anti-North Irish documentary.
In its alleged attempt to show that the IRA ceasefire was a sham, three minutes of Byrne's music and his instantly recognizable voice were played in the background as the camera panned across New York landmarks.
The court called this misappropriation "a prima facie violation of the Copyright Act and a calculated attempt to obtain entertaining footage only tenuously related to its news reporting."
"My political beliefs are central to who I am," Byrne said in an interview last year. The BBC's infringement on his music, he said, only could lead his fans and his compatriots to look upon him and Seanchai as having sold out.
The complaint filed last April by the Manhattan and Montauk-based firm Smith Dornan & Shea noted that his client "was publicly outspoken" against BBC's coverage of the Northern Ireland conflict long before the "Spotlight" program. The complaint identified Byrne's song "Fenians" "as renowned for its "overtly political content' and espousal of Irish republicanism, including fervent opposition to British occupation of six counties" in Northern Ireland.
The documentary conveyed the opposite message as it tracked the gun-running operation of four Irish nationals who were arrested in Florida and Philadelphia. Its central theme suggested that the IRA was the covert operator of the gun-smuggling. That left viewers with the Impression that Sinn Fein, the Republican political party, and the Republican movement itself had been dishonest in claiming that the IRA was maintaining the ceasefire.
The complaint called the timing and content of the documentary "malevolent and harmful to the cause of peace." As a direct result of the alleged false-premise broadcast, pro-British union politicians demanded that Sinn Fein be expelled from talks about a power-sharing government.
A New York City policeman for 10 years, Byrne has been in the forefront of Irish music for the last decade as rapper, lyricist, and uileann pipes and low whistle player, and as founding member of three acclaimed Irish-oriented music groups. In addition to Black 47, Byrne co-founded Paddy-A-GoGo and Seanchai. His last album with Seanchai was nominated as "Best Irish Album" of 1999 by one of Ireland's leading music journalists. Byrne's "Fenians" was the most requested song on Belfast's Triple FM radio station during the 1998 West Belfast Festival. The song alludes to British media's derogatory portrayal of Irish nationals. The album There Will Be Another Day on which it appears references resistance to British rule, alleged crimes committed by the British military, and the dangers of British propaganda on young Irish minds.
At one time, Byrne could have made a lucrative deal with Reebok, the giant shoe manufacturer. It was interested in sponsoring a Black 47 tour. Byrne turned it down because the company's corporate logo includes the British flag.
In its preliminary statement for dismissal, the BBC denied that at no point in the documentary was it ever mentioned or conveyed that Byrne's "Fenians" was the theme song for its program. Nonetheless, it admitted that BBC employees came to New York City and "copied all or most of the song without Byrne's permission." In a turn of phrase that some might claim was born on wings of fancy, the BBC rebuttal claimed that the copying was to convey "only the true fact," namely that Byrne's famous song "is the Theme Song of the Radio Program discussed in the documentary."
The BBC also suggested that if the case is not dismissed, British law should prevail on one part of it, and U.S. law on another. Attorney Eamonn Dornan said yesterday he expects the case to go to trial some time in September. He is proceeding through discovery now and expects to start taking depositions here and overseas in the coming months. In response to a question, Dornan said it is possible that the BBC could make a settlement offer the night before the trial starts. However, he added, Byrne is prepared to go to trial. "He was terribly wronged," Dornan said.
LATEST NEWS
COURT PAPERS
COURT DECISIONS
MEDIA COVERAGE
LINKS
|
