Singer and song writer Ed Sheeran is currently facing a copyright lawsuit with reference to his music ‘Thinking out loud’. The heirs of of singer, songwriter and producer Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Marvin Gaye's 1973 soul staple "Let's Get It On'',filed a suit against Ed Sheeran on Tuesday in the Federal court in the Southern District of New York. Ed Townsend and Marvin Gaye co-wrote the song. Townsend's heirs are now suing Sheeran and they are claiming that Ed Sheeran has…
Another film met the fate of being brought before the court in the 11th hour for plagiarism. The film Mohenjo Daro, directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar is scheduled for release on 12th August 2016. The movie was brought before the Bombay High Court with a claim that it was a product of plagiarism. But the film triumphed its first ever legal battle.
The Plaintiff, Mr. Akshayaditya Harishchandra Lama ("Lama") claimed that the 1st Defendant, Mr. Ashutosh Gowarikar directed film Mohenjo Daro…
The makers of the movie 'Mohenjo Daro' heaved a sigh of relief when the Bombay HC on August 2nd,2016 (Tuesday) dismissed a plea for an interim relief by the plaintiff who had alleged that the director of the movie had supposedly infringed his copyright in the script. The plaintiff, Akashaditya Lama had sent a legal notice to the producers of the movie Mohenjo Daro,director Ashutosh Gowariker and Hrithik Roshan, seeking a stay on the film’s production and release. He alleged…
The latest development in the copyright dispute between the makers of short films 'Kriti' and 'Bob' is discussed in this post. To know more about this copyright dispute which was published in an earlier post, please click here.
The turbulence between Shirish Kunder’s 'Kriti' and Aneel Neupane’s 'Bob' finally seems to have reached its climax with the comeback of KRITI on YouTube. Neupane’s allegations of copyright infringement had infuriated Kunder, who claimed that there was no scope for any such copy…
Apple has been granted a new patent for a technology that will block the phone’s camera feature. Apple had sought for a patent for this technology in 2011.The technology allows phone cameras to be disabled through infrared sensors. An infrared emitter can be located in areas where capturing of pictures and videos are prohibited. The technology for which the patent has been granted involves infrared single detection technique. An electronic device can receive the infrared signals, decode the data and…
Krishika Lulla & Ors. vs Shyam Vithalrao Devkatta & Anr.
[Criminal Appeal No. 258 & 259 of 2013 SC (Decided on 15.10.2015)]
Facts
Shyam Vithalrao Devkatta (Respondent), had authored a story named ‘Desi Boys’ and had registered the same with the Film Writers Association on 25.11.2008. Mr. Devkatta forwarded the synopsis of the story to his friend Mr. Ramesh Bhatnagar who further forwarded it one Mr. Ahsaan Sagar on 15.10.2009. Subsequently, Mr. Devkatta saw the promos of a…
This post discusses the latest development relating to the movie ‘Sultan’. The movie was released today, i.e.on 6.07.2016. Ahead of the release of the much awaited movie ‘Sultan’, Yash Raj Films approached the Bombay High Court ,seeking for an interim injunction to fight piracy. Yash Raj Films filed an application after they came across websites hosting several links to download the yet to be released movie ‘Sultan’. These links although dormant at the time of making the application are bound…
Kriti, a short film by Shirish Kunder, has been taken down by YouTube amidst a copyright controversy initiated by a filmmaker from Nepal, Aneel Neupane. The short film, Kriti, was uploaded on YouTube on June 22, 2016. The short film had bagged over two million views within 2 days. However, on June 24, Kriti found itself in controversy as Neupane updated a facebook status, openly accusing Kriti to be a copy of his short film, Bob. Neupane claimed that he…
Jury clears Led Zeppelin’s "Stairway to Heaven" from copyright infringement claim
A lawsuit alleging copyright infringement was brought against Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin group by Michael Skidmore. He alleged that there were similarities between the opening chords for 1971 song Stairway To Heaven and a composition called Taurus which was released four years earlier by a band called Spirit.
The US District Judge Gary Klausner had ruled in April that “Stairway to Heaven” bore “substantial” similarities with…
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.
Let’s see what we sipped…