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; Reliance Introduces its E-Commerce Platform and more.
NATIONAL
Telegu Remake of Band Baaja Baaraat Restricted from Being Released in Any Format
Yash Raj Films originally released the movie ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’ starring Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma in the year 2010. The makers of its Telugu version, Sri Sai Ganesh Productions, released the movie in 2013 after which the Delhi High Court passed an interim order restricting its release in any format. The Final order was passed recently whereby the Court restrained the Telugu film from being released in any format, including DVDs, VCDs, Blu-ray discs and television on account of blatantly copying the fundamental features as well as forms of the plaintiff’s film on purpose.
India Inc. Loses 12.8 Cr. to Data Breach
According to a report by IBM, organizations in India lost around Rs.12.8 crore between July 2018 and April 2019 as data breach cost. About 500 organizations who have faced data breach recently were interviewed as a part of the research by the Poneman Institute and sponsored by tech-giant IBM. The report took into account cost factors from legal and regulatory activities to loss of brand equity citing system glitch, malicious attack, and human error as the major causes of breach. In India on an average 35,636 records were compromised, this ranked 15th globally in terms of total cost of breach.
INTERNATIONAL
YouTube Improves its Manual Copyright Claims System
YouTube has found more efficient means of addressing copyright infringement claims. It has introduced the ‘timestamp’ feature in its manual copyright claims system whereby the copyright owner can specify the exact portion against which he/she claims infringement and the alleged infringer can also identify it. In case the claim is upheld, this process would also contribute in speedy resolution of the dispute. YouTube also believes that this system could also reduce the number of fake claims.
New Zealand Contemplates Amendments in its Copyright Law
New Zealand Parliament is considering amending the copyright law to make it convenient for visually impaired people to access unpublished works. New Zealand joined the Marrakesh Treaty in 2017 to enable access to more written books in Braille, large print or audio formats. Signing the Treaty requires changes in the domestic law to suit the requirements of people with print disability. The amendment aims to help the visually challenged realize their human rights, like right to education, and right to information.
The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE) to be Passed in the US
The Copyright Alternative in Small–Claims Enforcement Act or CASE is a Bill which, if passed, will form a small-claims court within the US Copyright Office to address smaller scale infringements. The proposed Bill provides an alternative to pursuing copyright infringement cases through US Federal Courts and does not provide the right to seek injunctive relief and has a lower limit of recoverable statutory damages. The benefit of pursuing copyright claims through small-claims however will be the lower cost and faster time to judgement. The claim limit for damages to bring a case in small-claims will be $30,000 or less. Copyright critics however have expressed their concerns for over-encouraging small copyright claims. They fear the Copyright Office would be left to determine complaints of fair use or freedom of expression (First Amendment) matters.
LICENSING
Plex-The New Custom Streaming Service
Plex, a company that sells media server software, is the latest entrant in the online streaming service space. This software allows users to customize the various shows and other media content that they can access. It has two parts, one being the piece of software that organizes media on the computer’s hard drive and the client-side program that lets the user stream that content from wherever they are on just about any device.
However, while the Plex software is legal, the content available on the Plex servers, which is mostly commercial content, could be deemed as pirated. The media that populates its customer-run servers could be illegal. Inspite of this, there are several users who are eager for a service like Plex, that helps them conveniently sort out their media and make it accessible on a single app.
Netflix Launches a New Mobile Plan in India
In addition to its existing subscription plans, Netflix has launched a mobile plan at Rs.199 per month. This plan is mainly targeted at mobile and tablet users in India and is more affordable than the Rs.499 monthly plan. Since majority of the population in India owns smartphones and consumes such streaming services on their phones and tablets, Netflix has customized this plan for Indian users.
Considering India has the highest percentage of users accessing content on their mobiles in the world, Netflix aims to increase its subscriber base by making its service affordable.
E-COMMERCE
Google Launches its Shopping Platform in the US
Google has recently entered the e-commerce market with the launch if its shopping platform which essentially aims at competing with Amazon. Google’s platform will guide customers to its own store or to third-party sellers chosen by Google. Presently, Google does not intend to store any products itself, instead it would direct the customers to other retailers like Costco and Target.
Additionally, Google’s platform will also sell products with a “Buy with Google Guarantee” wherein if such recommended retailers fail to deliver on time, the shopper would be ensured a refund. Google had tested this platform in France and other parts of the world before launching it the US.
Alibaba Supports SME’s in the US to Connect Globally
Alibaba, China’s leading e-commerce company has launched a platform in the US that will allow manufacturers and distributors to manage a storefront on Alibaba’s website. Further, Alibaba stated that it would support small and medium enterprises to become a part of the $23.9 trillion global B2B e-commerce market and help link them to vendors, services and international buyers. A series of workshops and webinars with local chambers of commerce will be organized to help familiarize US sellers with the process.
Reliance Introduces its E-Commerce Platform
Reliance, the Indian conglomerate holding company, launched its new e-commerce platform with a hybrid online-offline model for millions of small merchants across India to provide them access to the thriving e-commerce market in the country. This initiative aims to bring together customers from Reliance stores, Jio connectivity and other small merchants from all over the country. Recently, Reliance has acquired various startups and their new platform aims to drive efficiency and value creation for all players in India’s retail market, specifically producers, brand owners, merchants and customers. Prior to this, Reliance, has set up e-commerce kiosks at Jio point stores in rural areas as well as in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities to help customers in placing online orders with the help of store executives.
Authored and compiled by Neharika Vhatkar and Anusmita Mazumder (Associates, BananaIP Counsels)
The Entertainment Law News Bulletin is brought to you jointly by the Entertainment Law, eCommerce Law, and Consulting/Strategy Divisions of BananaIP Counsels, a Top IP Firm in India. If you have any questions, or need any clarifications, please write to [email protected] with the subject: Ent Law News.
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 [email protected] for corrections and take down.
