Copyrights | Intellepedia

“Digital Infringers, Beware of the Goonda Act!”

Karnataka’s amended Goonda Act now covers digital offenders, allowing preventive detention for IT and copyright-related activities. The legal community has expressed concern over the law’s scope and the severity of its detention provisions.

Fair Use vs. Copyright Infringement

This post analyses key legal cases that shaped the debate on fair use versus copyright infringement, focusing on transformative use in art. It highlights how courts have interpreted these defences within the framework of copyright law.

Conclusion post: Ideas, Concepts, Scripts & Stories – Protecting Ideas…

This post concludes the series on protecting creative concepts in India’s entertainment industry. It examines key legal cases affirming that breaches of confidentiality in sharing ideas are actionable under Indian law.

Reverse Engineering is Legitimated by Reason: Sega v. Accolade

This post examines Sega v Accolade, a pivotal case on reverse engineering and copyright law. It discusses how courts balanced fair use with copyright protection, highlighting the rationale legitimating intermediate copying for functional understanding.

Batmobile – Supercar or Character?

The Batmobile copyright case explores whether this iconic vehicle is protectable as a character under US law. The dispute between DC Comics and Mark Towle highlights the intersection of copyright protection and utilitarian design in intellectual property law.

Conceptualizing Copyright Assignments & Licenses Part – I

This post explains the legal concept of copyright assignment in India, focusing on the mechanisms and statutory provisions governing the transfer of rights under the Copyright Act, 1957. It also discusses practical considerations for drafting effective assignment agreements.

Clips of Copyrighted Material Constitute FAIR USE!

This post analyses a US court ruling on whether TV clips and transcript snippets in searchable databases constitute fair use under copyright law. It objectively examines the legal reasoning and implications for media monitoring services.

Intellectual Property Protection for Computer Programs – Part II

This post explores the early use of trade secret law for protecting computer programs in India and its limitations. It discusses how legal and technological developments eventually necessitated a shift towards copyright protection.

OSS License Compliance – Source Code Not Enough

Complying with OSS licenses involves more than sharing source code. Legal obligations under licences like the GPL include terms on DRM, attribution, and usage restrictions. This post discusses Apple’s VLC case and stresses the importance of full compliance by OSS users.

Ideas, Concepts, Scripts & Stories – Protecting Ideas in the Entertainment Industry Part V

The Anil Gupta v. Kunal Dasgupta case sets a precedent on idea protection and breach of confidence in Indian entertainment law. It clarifies that detailed concepts, rather than mere ideas, may receive copyright protection and legal remedies when misused.