Indian Copyright Statistics, Nagarjuna’s Son’s Film and Copyright Infringement, Justice Krishna’s White Paper on Data Protection Released for Public Comments, Gaana and Saavn to work with Independant Artists and more is presented by the Copyright and Entertainment Law Attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s Premier New Age IP Firm
COPYRIGHT QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Is settling with pirate a new option to manage/ control large-scale copyright infringement? Isn’t joining hands with pirates a wrong precedent?- Dr. Kalyan C Kankanala
INDIAN COPYRIGHT STATISTICS
There was a decrease of 27% in the total number of copyright filings compared to the last week. A total of 165 applications were filed for copyright registration during the last week. While most of the applications were filed for literary works only 1 application was filed for registering Sound Recordings.
| Sr. No | Types of work | Number of Applications previous week | Number of Applications this week | Percentage change |
| 1 | Literary Works | 173 | 145 | A decrease of 16% |
| 2 | Musical works | 2 | 1 | A decrease of 50% |
| 3 | Artistic works | 32 | 3 | A decrease of 90% |
| 4 | Cinematograph Films | 0 | 3 | An increase of 300% |
| 5 | Sound Recordings | 1 | 1 | No change |
| 6 | Software | 18 | 12 | A decrease of 33% |
| Total | 228 | 165 | A decrease of 27% |
INDIAN COPYRIGHTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW UPDATES
Nagarjuna’s son’s Film HELLO’s Teaser Removed From Youtube Citing Copyright Infringement
Actor Nagarjuna’s son Akhil Akkineni’s upcoming film Hello’s teaser was released recently and had increased the expectation about the film. The teaser has been taken down by YouTube based on copyright infringement claim filed by an international music band. It has been reported that music director Anup Rubens had used a music track in the teaser from an international music album, following which the teaser was removed by YouTube. “The teaser of the film was cut by the promo editor with a dummy musical track. When this was presented to music composer Anup Rubens, he composed his own music track but that didn’t fit well. Following this, it was decided to use a track from the internet and to purchase the same. Unfortunately, due to some technical issues, the payment was not processed which led to YouTube removing the teaser.” said the Producers in their statement.
TRAI Backs Net Neutrality
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday came out in support of Net Neutrality in a series of recommendations provided to the Government following the long consultation process. One of the recommendations reads “The service providers should be restricted from entering into any arrangement, agreement or contract, by whatever name called, with any person, natural or legal, that has the effect of discriminatory treatment based on content, sender or receiver, protocols or user equipment.” This recommendation goes against the Free Basics or Airtel Zero rolled out by Facebook and Airtel respectively. To monitor violations, TRAI has recommended the establishment of a multi-stakeholder body which would be responsible for developing technical standards for monitoring and enforcing the recommendations.
Justice Sri Krishan’s White Paper on data protection released for comments.
The long-awaited white paper of Justice B.N Srikrishna Committee headed by Justice Sri Krishna has been released for public comments on November 27th. The white paper is available at this link and the last date for submitting comments is December 31
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW NEWS
Ace and Cap Shut Down Aussie Pirate IPTV Operation
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment and the Coalition against Piracy has successfully closed down a major pirate TV operation in the country. The service closed down its operation after entering into a deal with the two anti-piracy outfits. The service had used set-top boxes, similar to Amazon fire sticks, to distribute unlicensed television over the internet to users.
LICENSING AND MERCHANDISING UPDATES
Gaana and Saavn to Work With Independent Artist to Produce and Market Original Content
Online music platforms such as Gaana and Saavn are heading towards original music production, distribution and artist management and have tied-up with independent artists of the same. Under its ‘Artists Originals’ initiative, Saavn launched its first track in February of this year, with rapper Naezy. The platform has said to generate fourteen million streams from original tracks by five different artists. Gaana, on the other hand, has launched its initiative called ‘Gaana Originals’ and has eleven artists on board. Six original songs as a part of the aforementioned initiative, have generated more twenty million streams in five weeks.
BananaIP Entertainment and Copyright law Tip of the Week
Using Music From the Internet
Copying and using music that is available on the internet without permission give rise to copyright infringement. Music Directors/ Composers could get away with it earlier the consequence could prove to be detrimental to the success of the film in today’s technological context.
Author: BIP’s Copyright and Entertainment Law Attorneys
Senior Partner, the entertainment law attorneys at BIP are among the well-known lawyers in the field. They work with clients such as Yash Raj Films, Dharma Productions, Ananda Audio, Anushka Sharma, Sushant Singh, and Arka Media (Producer of Bahu Bali). BIP’s entertainment law team helps clients protect, manage and effectively license and merchandise their creative works such as films, music, brands and other content, to maximize financial returns.
The weekly copyright and entertainment law news initiative is a part of their pro bono work, and is aimed at spreading entertainment law awareness. You are free to share the news with appropriate attribution and backlink to the source.
If you have any questions, you may write to BIP’s Copyright and Entertainment Law Attorneys – [email protected].
