Indian Copyright Statistics, Technology and Innovation Support Centre, Disney Accused of Copying Pirates of the Caribbean Plots, Performer’s Rights Dispute 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
“It is not what an author or performer fees, it is about what kind of right the law provides to them with respect to royalty” – Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala
INDIAN COPYRIGHT STATISTICS
There was a decrease of 26.97% in the total number of copyright filings compared to the last week. A total of 186 applications were filed for copyright registration during the last week. While most of the applications were filed for literary works no application was filed for registering Cinematographic films.
| Sr. No | Types of Work | Number of Applications Previous Week | Number of Applications this Week | Percentage Change |
| 1 | Literary Works | 198 | 147 | 29.56% |
| 2 | Musical Works | 2 | 3 | 40% |
| 3 | Artistic Works | 27 | 19 | 34.78% |
| 4 | Cinematograph Films | 0 | 0 | No change |
| 5 | Sound Recordings | 2 | 3 | 40% |
| 6 | Software | 15 | 14 | 6.8% |
| Total | 244 | 186 | 26.97% |
INDIAN COPYRIGHTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW UPDATES
Saregama and Super Cassettes Succeeded in Impleading in a Performer’s Rights Dispute
The division bench of the Delhi High Court comprising of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Ravindra Bhat set aside compromise decrees recognizing the settlement deeds between the Indian Singers Rights Association and the two defendants. SpicyIP reported that the earlier defendants have entered into settlement agreements recognizing ISRA’s claims to receive royalties and agreed to pay the royalties claimed by ISRA. However, the music labels, Saregama and Super Cassettes filed a petition before the Single bench seeking to be impleaded in the suit claiming that their ownership rights were in question in the suit. The labels further claimed that the proposed settlement was collusive and therefore, unlawful. The Single bench rejected this petition and decreed the suit in terms of the Settlement Deed. The Division Bench found that while recording a settlement, the court is obliged to examine the objections against the settlement and set aside the compromise decrees passed by the Single Bench.
Chennai gets Technology and Innovation Support Centre
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has signed an institutional agreement with Anna University. As part of this agreement, India’s second Technology and Innovation Support Centre will be established at the Centre of Intellectual Property Rights, Chennai. WIPO’s Technology and Innovation Support Centre Program provides innovators with access to locally based, high quality, technical information and related services and assists them to create, protect and manage their intellectual property rights.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW NEWS
Disney Accused of Copying Pirates of the Caribbean Plots
The writers, A Lee Alred and Ezequiel Martinez Jnr accused Disney of copying their copyrighted “expression of themes, settings, dialogues, characters, plot, mood and sequence of events” from their 2000 page script entitled Pirates of the Caribbean. The duo claims that they submitted the script to Disney while working with Disney for another movie. The writers filed a copyright infringement suit before a Colorado Federal Court alleging that their Screenplay was intentionally copied and commercially exploited by Disney. “This complaint is entirely without merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending against it in court,” said Disney spokesperson in a statement.
LICENSING AND MERCHANDISING NEWS
Saregama to release one film a month
Music and entertainment company Saregama is set to get into film production under the Yoodlee Films banner. However, the company plans to have a restricted theatrical release for such films and instead focus on the online content platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Jio, and Hotstar. The films as per Saregama will be thematic and not the typical Bollywood archetype. Saregama intends to release one film a month and the films ready under the banner are Abhi & Anu, Brij Mohan Amar Rahe, The Noblemen, Ashcharya Chakit and Hamid. The company is looking to release fifty films in four years.
BIP TIP OF THE WEEK
Scripts and Films – Handling Disclosures
Production houses and entertainment companies receive several solicited and unsolicited scripts and story ideas on a regular basis and must take appropriate measures to avoid disputes with respect to the same. While unsolicited scripts/ ideas can be handled through an effective/ efficient process, managing solicited ideas/ scripts, which are not pursued may turn out to be complex. One option for handling solicited ideas/scripts is to have a well-defined disclosure agreement with the author/scriptwriter, which includes appropriate releases, disclaimers, and boundaries.
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 merchandize 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].
