Celebrating 20 Years of IP Excellence

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YouTube Improves its Manual Copyright Claims System, Netflix Launches a New Mobile Plan in India, Reliance Introduces its E-Commerce Platform and more.

  Telugu Remake of Band Baaja Baaraat Restricted from Being Released in Any Format; India Inc. Loses 12.8 Cr. to Data Breach; YouTube Improves its Manual Copyright Claims System; New Zealand Contemplates Amendments in its Copyright Law; The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE) to be Passed in the US; Plex-The New Custom Streaming Service; Netflix Launches a New Mobile Plan in India; Google Launches its Shopping Platform in the US; Alibaba Supports SME’s in the US to Connect Globally;…

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The image has a huge copyright sign at the center of it. The post is about copyright assignment. Click on image to view post.

Copyright Assignment & Licenses – Part II

This post was first published on 26th June, 2014.   This post is in continuation of my earlier post regarding the meaning and principles behind copyright assignments in India. In this post, we will be specifically addressing the factors that should be taken into account while preparing an Assignment Deed and License Agreement. Section 19 of the Copyright Act, 1957 as amended in 2012, lists certain exhaustive factors that should be taken into consideration by the parties involved, while preparing an Assignment…

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This Image depicts the word art of 'Personality'. This Image is relevant as the article deals with the Persoanlity Rights in India. Click on this Image for more Information.

Personality Rights in India – Part II

This post was first published on 26th June, 2014.   Justification for Publicity Rights is based on the Lockean Labor Theory, which essentially says that the fruits of one’s labor are one’s own. Therefore, Publicity Rights permit the exploitation of one’s persona by oneself. Unauthorized use of a person’s identity, including the person’s name, voice, image and likeness for commercial gain may give rise to a successful cause of action against the infringing party. Since Publicity Rights are one of the two parts…

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The image has multiple copyright symbols in different colours. The post discusses some cases on fair use exception. Click on image to read post.

Fair Use vs. Copyright Infringement

  This post was first published on 1st September 2014.   1. Cariou vs. Prince Photograph: Patrick Cariou - 2000; Adaptation: Richard Prince – 2008(both via artnet)  Richard Prince, the well-known appropriation artist - one who transforms the work of others to create new meaning in his work was sued by Patrick Cariou, a lesser-known photographer when Prince used several of Cariou’s photographs in a series of collages that were sold for tens of millions of dollars. Richard Prince, for an exhibition in…

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This image depicts two person trying to put the puzzle together. This image is relevant as it was decided in the case of Sega vs Accolade that Reverse Engineering is limited by Reason. Click on the image for more information

Reverse Engineering is Legitimated by Reason: Sega v. Accolade

This post was first published on 11th November, 2014.   In one of our recent posts on reverse engineering, we discussed fair use for intermediate copying. Today, we will look into another landmark case that legitimizes copying based on a justifiable reason! In Sega v. Accolade, Accolade used a two-step process to create video games compatible with the Sega Genesis game console. The first step was to reverse engineer the system and create a development manual. Accolade purchased a Genesis video game console and three…

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Batmobile – Supercar or Character?

This post was published on 18th March, 2014.   In a copyright infringement suit between the DC comics (Plaintiff) vs. Mark Towle (Defendant) the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is to decide whether the Batmobile is protectable under copyright laws. Batmobile is a renowned vehicle that the caped crusader a.k.a. Batman uses for fighting crime in the city of Gotham. Known for its aesthetics, aerodynamics, and features such as jet engine afterburner, torpedoes/missile launchers, automatic tire inflator and…

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A Peek into the Central Board for Film Certification

This post was first published on 2nd September, 2014.   What is the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)? The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, regulating public exhibition of films under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952. Films can be publicly exhibited in India only after they have been certified by the CBFC. What is its constitution? The Board consists of non-official members and a Chairman (all of whom…

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The image has green lines over black background to indicate digital information. The image is relevant as the post is about IP protection of Computer Programs. Click on image to view post.

Intellectual Property Protection for Computer Programs – Part II

This post was first published on 1st September, 2014.   In continuation to the previous post in the series, we shall now be looking into the system of IP protection for computer programs that existed prior to the adoption of Copyright and Patent Laws. Though it can be said that Copyright and Patent Laws are the more popular systems of IP protection for computer programs, it was Trade Secret Law that was initially resorted to for the protection of software, primarily because, previously, computer programs bundled…

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This Image depicts the images of various Merchandized Products. This Image is relevant as the article deals with the Licensing and Merchandizing in Entertainment and Sports Sector. Click on this Image for more Information.

Mind your L’s and M’s: Licensing & Merchandising – Part 1

This post was first published on 2nd September, 2014.   Merchandising is an extension of a brand into new categories. Any merchandise is created by securing license of different Intellectual Properties such as themes, images, songs or dialogues of a film, characters etc. It is in the past decade that Movie Merchandise and Character Merchandise has gained popularity in India. According to the industry reports, global licensing & merchandising is a huge business with its top 125 licensors accounting for sales amounting…

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This Image depicts the Word Art of 'Copyright'.This Image is relevant as the article deals with the Bombay High Court's Clarification on grey areas in Copyright Amendments Act,2012. Click on this Image for more Information.

India’s Copyright Societies & Collective Rights Management – Part VI

This post was first published on 4th August, 2014.   The primary purpose of a Copyright Society, also referred to as a Copyright Collective, is Collective Rights Management. A typical society acts as a middle man between authors/owners of copyrighted works and the Licensees of such works. Simply put, authors transfer all or some of their rights to the society and the society, in turn, licenses those rights, collects royalty and distributes the royalty among authors. The society also collects an administrative,…

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