Celebrating 20 Years of IP Excellence

The featured image shows two sheets of paper with the words legal and illegal written on them. To read more and to read the post click here.

Defacto Copyright Societies

  Prashant's recent post on Copyright Societies in India is lucid and instructive like many of his other writings. You may read his post and those related to it on Spicy IP, and may also consider going through the chapter in the book he references. The phrase "Defacto Copyright Societies" he uses in his post caught my attention, and therefore, this quick note. In my opinion, the Copyright Amendment is more discriminatory than revolutionary. It gives undue importance and rights to…

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The featured image is the photograph of singer S.P. Balasubramaniam. To read this post of the Ilayaraja and SPB copyright case, click here.

Ilayaraja v. S.P. Balasubramanyam

  Ilayaraja's copyright notice to S.P. Balasubramanyam asking the singer to pay royalties for performance of his musical compositions in USA has provoked debates, arguments and discussions on various fronts. To the question, does S.P Balasubramanyam need a license to perform his own works (songs he sang and recorded for films)? ; The answer is a simple and straight forward – Yes! S.P Balasubramanyam has to take two licenses for each song he wishes to perform - one for the lyrics,…

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The featured image reads 'all rights reserved'. This post talks about the Entertainment Law and Copyrights involved in Royalty Rights in Sound Recordings, Lyrics & Musical Works. To read more, please click here.

Royalty Rights in Sound Recordings, Lyrics & Musical Works – Part 1

  Quick bite: Dear readers, the following post is brought to you by the Media and Entertainment law experts of BananaIP (BIP)Counsels. This post is the first in its series and promises to engage your grey matter. This post will essentially help you understand the Entertainment Law and Copyrights surrounding Royalty Rights in Sound Recordings, Lyrical & Musical Works. Colloquially used word music/song is more than melody or harmony reduced to print, writing or graphic form[1]. Music is a language with a…

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The featured image shows coffee in a white small cup with a spoon placed next to it. The post is about sipping on IP. To know more, please click here.

Intellectual Property : Sipping on IP

Well I am guessing the title of this post may have piqued your interest. ‘Sipping on IP’ is an initiative taken by BananaIP Counsels, where everyone gathers over coffee and lets ideas, discussions and conversations about intellectual property brew. There are no ground rules and the conversation can be about varied topics from more current pressing issues to any IP related concept. It is a great way to connect, take a break and learn from your peers. Date: 02/08/2016 Topics discussed Anchita,…

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Statutory License for Cover Versions under the Copyright (Amendment) Act

In our post last week, we looked at statutory licensing for broadcast organizations specified under Section 31D of the Indian Copyright Act. As mentioned earlier, the objective of non-voluntary licensing is to overcome the difficulty of locating the original owner of the copyrighted work in order to obtain a license and to avoid the creation of monopoly of copyright owners. The Copyright Act similarly contains provisions for statutory licensing for cover versions under Section 31C. While Section 31D which talks…

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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…

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Indian Copyright Law and Fair dealing

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,…

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

Hollywood Copyrights and Bollywood Copy(right!?)

‘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…

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