Weekly Copyright, Media, and Entertainment Law Updates

Stephanie Sarley, a visual artist known for her videos on “fruit art”, alleging copyright infringement of her artwork, has filed a lawsuit against popular Jamaican artist Shenseea over the 2019 music video of the song ‘Foreplay’. Sarley is known for her unique portrayal of “sensual fruit imagery” and is a popular content creator on Instagram. She claims that the music video allegedly contains almost 40 seconds of footage, showcasing her artistic works in original forms and slightly altered versions. Sarley has sought 150,000 USD for infringement of each of her three original works.

Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, addressing an event in Jaipur, declared that the government is working on a Bill to regulate digital media. According to the statement, the Bill would also simplify the process of registration of newspapers and bring in new laws to replace the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. The minister also observed that the government prefers self-regulation of most media, but given the reach and impact of digital and electronic media, a balanced Act in the need of the hour.

Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, commenting on the standard of content presented via OTT platforms pointed out the need for a self-regulation on content. The content presented through the OTT channels, he said, “are beyond acceptable standards within the Indian cultural landscape.” He had impressed the need of the government and the media and entertainment industry to work together, to push the growth of the sector and expanding beyond the less than one percent share in the global market.

Authored by Ipshita Bhattacharyya (Associate, BananaIP Counsels)

---

About BananaIP Counsels:

This Copyright and Entertainment Law News Bulletin is brought to you by the Copyright and Trademark Division of BananaIP Counsels, a Top ranked IP Firm in India. BananaIP Counsels’ trademark attorneys are among the leading experts in the field. If you have any questions, or need any clarifications, please write to contact@bananaip.com with the subject: Copyright News.

The weekly intellectual property law news initiative is a part of their pro bono work and is aimed at spreading awareness about intellectual property and allied laws. You are free to share the news with appropriate attribution and link back to the source.

Disclaimer:

Please note that the news bulletin has been put together from different sources, primary and secondary, and BananaIP’s reporters may not have verified all the news published in the bulletin. You may write to contact@bananaip.com  for corrections and take down.