25 February 2019

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Kindle eBooks, Amazon and Business of Licensing: Section 33 Non-Compliance?

in Copyrights, General, Intellectual Property, Trademarks

amazon Kindle India non compliance on FDI law

Over the years, the copyright law was amended several times to achieve different objectives ranging from inclusion of new works and rights to protecting interests of authors. One of the amendments to Indian copyright law in 1994 related to creating an exclusive business zone for copyright societies, whose objective is to manage works of authors, publishers and owners and facilitate ease of licensing and royalty sharing. The amendment provided in Section 33 of the Copyright Act that only copyright societies can be in the business of granting or issuing licenses. The objective of this limitation to the business of licensing...

24 February 2019

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Overlapping IP Protection: Call for Caution

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law

The image depicts a venn diagram of Copyright, Patent and Trademark

This post was first published on September 11th, 2012. Rights and protection are both victim and villain in overlapping. Overlapping and provision of simultaneous or sequential protection for some inventive and creative works have become a part of the expansive Intellectual property law regime. For example, both copyright law and trademark law now protect ‘Angry Birds’ and ‘Miley Cyrus’. Overlapping copyright and trademark protection for these two characters not only means that their creators receive all the benefits flowing from both the copyright regime and the trademark system, but it also means that many of the benefits that would otherwise flow to...

24 February 2019

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Would Licensing a Sound Recording Call For Separate License From the Lyricist and Composer?

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property

This post was last published on May 15th, 2012. The case ruling in IPRS v. Aditya Pandey came as a huge loss to the music composers and lyricists of the industry. It was held that no separate license was required from the copyright owner of literary and musical work (lyricist and composer) that embody a sound recording. A brief overview of the facts are as follows- The appellant, Indian Performing Right Society Ltd. (IPRS - for short) is a Copyright Society registered under Section 33 of the Copyright Act 1957 and has around 1478 members who are either authors of the lyrics or...

22 February 2019

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Gully Boy Leaked, FFI Wants Piracy Court, Kanye West Sued, REM Gets Trump Tweet Removed, and more

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law, Publicity Rights, Publicity Rights/ Celebrity Rights, Social Media Law

AICWA Bans Pakistani Actors and Artists, Gully Boy Leaked Online Soon After Release, Film Federation Demands Special Court to Control Piracy, Family Sues Kanye West for Copyright Infringement, Twitter Removes Trump Tweet After Copyright Complaint from R.E.M., SCOTUS Declines to Hear ‘Empire’ Lawsuit, YouTube Changes Three-Strike Policy to Tackle Frivolous Claims, British Columbia Man Claims Ownership over People’s Party of Canada Name, McCafé to Sponsor Two SAFTA Categories, Songtradr Acquires Big Sync Music, Mattel Secures Three-Year Licensing Deal for Despicable Me, and more. Copyright Quote “Of all the creative work produced by humans anywhere, a tiny fraction has continuing commercial value. For that tiny fraction, the copyright is a crucially important legal...

16 February 2019

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Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd. v. Super Cassette Industries Ltd.

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law

This post was first published on 5th September 2011. HIGH COURT OF DELHI RFA No.250/2011 & CM No.8977/2011 Decided On: 01/09/2011 Facts: This appeal arises out of the interim orders passed by Copyright Board in the litigation between Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd (MBPL) and Super Cassette Industries Limited (SCIL) with respect to fixing of a royalty fee of a license agreement between the parties. According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two parties if the two parties are in litigation and if any Court/Copyright Board whether in any interim or final order where both SCIL and MBPL are parties, stipulates a rate...

15 February 2019

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Cinematograph Act Amendment, Facebook to Make Political Ads Transparent, No Removal of Explicit Streaming Content, EU Agrees on Copyrights, Fiji Counter-sues, and more

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law, Privacy / Data Protection, Publicity Rights, Publicity Rights/ Celebrity Rights, Social Media Law, Sports Law

Cabinet Approves Cinematograph Amendment to Curb Piracy, Delhi HC Dismisses Plea Seeking Removal of Explicit Streaming Content, Facebook to Increase Transparency of Political Ads, Jeff Bezos Accuses National Enquirer of ‘Extortion and Blackmail’, EU Negotiates Agreement on Copyright Rules, ‘GTA V’ Cheats Cost Creator USD 150,000 in Damages, Fiji Water Counter-sues Viral Fiji Water Girl, PV Sindhu Signs Lucrative 50 Crore Deal with Chinese Sports Brand, McFarlane Toys Inks Deal for DC Superhero Toys, Kiss and Emoji Collaborate, BMG to License Music through SESAC in India, Copyright Tip of the Week, and more. Copyright Quote When you have wit of your own, it's a pleasure to credit other people for theirs. - Criss...

15 February 2019

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Kindle eBooks, FDI eCommerce Policy and Amazon Marketplace – Non-compliance Continues Contd.

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, General, Intellectual Property, IP Commercialization/Licensing, Trademarks

Amazon Seller Services Private Limited ("Amazon") runs the eCommerce marketplace at www.amazon.in, and among other products, Amazon facilitates sale of eBooks and/or eBook subscription licenses on the platform at its Kindle eBook Store at https://www.amazon.in/Kindle-eBooks/b?ie=UTF8&node=1634753031. In my opinion, Amazon's business and approach with respect to eBooks does not comply with the recent FDI eCommerce guidelines by virtue of the following: By exclusively permitting only its group company Amazon Asia Pacific ("Amazon APAC") to sell eBooks on its marketplace; By giving preferential treatment to Amazon APAC's eBook products on the Marketplace; By requiring authors to publish exclusively on its marketplace through...

15 February 2019

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Autodesk, Inc. & Another v. Mr. Prashant Deshmukh & Others

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Trademarks

This post was first published on June 25, 2011. Facts: Autodesk Inc. is a well known U.S. based design software and digital content company which provides design software to professionals and has a large market in India as well. It is also the owner of various Trademarks in India including AUTODESK and AutoCAD. Microsoft Corporation is the owner of various well known computer software like Microsoft Office and Microsoft Windows, having a subsidiary company in India. In May, 2003, Microsoft received information from Mr. Devesh Tiwari, a Service Engineer for computers of M & S Consultancy Services, about large scale use of...

14 February 2019

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Intermediaries, Marketplaces and Take Down Actions

Posted by Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala

in Copyrights, General, Intellectual Property, Privacy / Data Protection

Intermediaries, Marketplaces and Take Down Actions

My colleague, Ashwini Arun, brought an interesting post on Spicy IP on SareGama's take down notice to my attention. The post talks about take down of one of its articles, and may be read at: https://spicyip.com/2019/02/saregama-pa-rdon-me-you-have-the-wrong-address-on-the-perils-and-pitfalls-of-notice-and-takedown.html. It is unfortunate that SareGama decided to include an article from Spicy IP, renowned for its well-researched articles and contributions to IP discourse, in its Take Down list. I am assuming that the inclusion of the link by SareGama was an inadvertent act of one of its Take Down service providers, who automate most of the process and approach taking down links to infringing...

14 February 2019

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SAP Aktiengesellschaft & Anr (Plaintiff) Vs. Sadiq Pasha, Proprietor, M/s Neologik India

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law

This post was first published on June 7, 2011. Pfizer Inc. filed a suit against Watson Laboratories, on June 1, 2011 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to prevent Watson from commercializing sildenafil citrate tablets prior to the expiration of Pfizer’s Viagra. Watson's sildenafil citrate tablets are a generic version of Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra, which is indicated for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED). Sildenafil citrate enhances the effect of nitric oxide, which plays a key role in creating erections, by inhibiting a chemical which can restrict its action. Pfizer's lawsuit was filed...

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