17 November 2015

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Technological Protection Measures

The Copyright Act, 1957 went through a major change in 2012. The amendment harmonised the copyright law with the “Internet Treaties”- the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), making it capable of facing challenges posed by digital technologies. The Copyright Act, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’) added new Sections, 65A and 65B, for protection against dodging of technological measures and protection of rights management information respectively. The provision under Section 65A sets out that any person who circumvents an effective technological measure applied for protecting any of the rights conferred in the Act, with...

16 November 2015

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Indian Copyright Law and Fair dealing

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property

The concept of fair dealing is statutorily entrenched in Section 52 of the Copyright Act, 1957. What fair dealing does is that it permits certain acts with respect to copyrighted works, which otherwise would have constituted as infringement. The concept of fair dealing found in the UK copyright law as well as the Indian copyright law, is much more restrictive that its US counterpart, fair use. While the Indian law provides a specific list of fair dealing acts and purposes, the US law uses certain set of factors to classify fair use. Section 52 on the Indian Copyright Act, entitled ‘Certain...

16 November 2015

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Statutory Licensing for Broadcasting Organisations

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law

The objective of non–voluntary licensing is two-fold. First, to overcome the difficulty of locating the correct owner of the copyrighted work and getting an individual license from him and second is to avoid the creation of monopoly of copyright owners. The result the state looks at achieving from this provision is ensuring public dissemination and authors' compensation and avoiding market monopoly. The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 has incorporated a new section into Chapter VI of the Copyright Act, which authorizes the broadcasting organizations to communicate to the public by way of performance of a literary or musical work and sound recording,...

16 November 2015

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Machinima – Copyright and Related Issues – Part I

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property

In this post we shall be discussing about ‘machinima’, a form of new age cinema. For those of you who are not aware of what machinima is, it is derived from two words, ‘machine’ and ‘cinema’, and as the combination suggests, it refers to the practice of using video games to create original cinematographic films. Machinima films use the virtual environments and the characters within a game to tell stories. Though a machinima appears to be just like any other animated movie, the process involved in the creation of making one is much similar to that of a live action movie....

11 November 2015

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Social Media and Intellectual Property (IP): Part I- Protection and Ownership

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law, Patents, Social Media Law, Trade Secrets

Social Media comes with a bundle of tools that differentiate it from traditional print and electronic media. Among others, two unique elements of Social Media are: Tools for sharing and dissemination of content and information across the world; and tools to communicate and exchange information. These two elements make Social Media a much more powerful weapon than traditional media. Access to most social media platforms requires internet, of which there is no dearth in today's context. It is estimated that 3.2 billion people have access to internet as of 2015. Out of these 3.2 billion, 2 billion people access internet on...

09 November 2015

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Hollywood Copyrights and Bollywood Copy(right!?)

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property

The featured image shows a movie reel. The post deals about the online leak of udta punjab. To know more, please click here.

‘Plagiarism’ is not a foreign word to the entertainment industry. It is not uncommon in Bollywood to dress ‘plagiarism’ as ‘inspiration’. Studies show that nearly eight out of every ten Bollywood movies produced is “inspired” by one or more Hollywood films. Bollywood has time and again faced criticism for its “blatant copying” of Hollywood storylines and for having taken undue advantage of the unfamiliarity of the Indian audiences with respect to international films. Although very few western studios attempted to bring a suit proceeding against Bollywood filmmakers for blatant infringement of copyrights in the past, this trend has seen a...

09 November 2015

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Performer’s Rights under Indian Copyright Law

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights

In last week’s post, we explored the concept of performer’s rights, which was recognized only in 1994, under the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, after a long delay. The basis for recognition of performer’s rights stems from the need for recognition of rights of performers as well as the need for sharing of the proceeds from the commercial exploitation of the visual or acoustic performances of actors, musicians, singers or dancers. This week, we shall be discussing the judicial approach in India towards the performer’s rights, in relation to the cinematographic works and the entertainment industry. However, before we begin the discussion...

02 November 2015

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Moral Rights – India V United States

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights

Recently, in a US copyright suit against Rapper Jay Z , the issue of ‘moral rights’ took center stage. The copyright suit was with regards to the sampling of an old Egyptian song in Jay-Z’s hit number “Big Pimpin’”. According to Jay Z a.k.a Shawn Carter and producer Timbaland a.k.a Timothy Mosley, the hook or the sample of Khosara Khosara was licensed to them. They paid $100,000 in total to EMI Music Arabia for the license in 2001. However, Osama Fahmy, nephew of Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi (original composer of the song), was of the opinion that by using the...

02 November 2015

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Performer’s Right under Indian Copyright Law- Part I

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property, IP Commercialization/Licensing

The visual or acoustic performances of actors, musicians, singers or dancers forms a key part of the creative process and the performers who display their talents through their artistic performances must be entitled for certain rights over such performances as well as a share in the proceeds from its commercial exploitation. However, the rights of the performers were not recognized internationally until the adoption of the Rome Convention of 1961. This international treaty called for protection against unauthorized broadcast of any performances without providing adequate compensation to the performers. These rights are over and above the rights granted to the original...

02 November 2015

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Sholay Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. v. Parag Sanghavi & Ors.

Posted by BananaIP Reporter

in Copyrights, Intellectual Property

The featured image shows a movie clapboard. The post is about the online leak of the movie Udta Punjab. To know more, please click here.

Case Title: Sholay Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. & Ors.v. Parag Sanghavi & Ors. Citation: 223 (2015) DLT 152, MIPR 2015 (3) 0096 Brief Facts: The dispute is centered around the highly popular movie ‘Sholay’ directed by Mr. Ramesh Sippy and produced by Mr. G.P. Sippy and the movie ‘Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag’ directed by Mr. Ram Gopal Verma. Before we go into the particulars of the dispute, one must have an understanding of the ownership of the rights over the Sippy repertoire of movies. In 1965, a partnership firm by the name of M/s. Sippy Films was established for the production of the...

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