Indian Copyright Statistics, Prabhas’s Mr. Perfect in copyright soup, Taylor Swift sued for plagiarism, The Jungle Book licensing deals 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
“Creativity is a virtue: and creators virtuous” –Kalyan
INDIAN COPYRIGHT STATISTICS
A total of 76 applications were filed for copyright registration during the last week. While most of the applications were filed for literary works only two applications were filed for registering Sound recordings.
| Sl no | Types of works | Number of Applications |
| 1 | Literary Works | 46 |
| 2 | Musical works | 3 |
| 3 | Artistic Works | 13 |
| 4 | Cinematograph Films | 1 |
| 5 | Sound Recordings | 2 |
| 6 | Software | 11 |
| Total | 76 |
INDIAN COPYRIGHTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW UPDATES
Prabhas’s Mr. Perfect in copyright soup
After six years of its release, Prabhas’s 2011 block buster hit movie Mr. Perfect has landed in copyright trouble. Shyamala Rani, a novelist, has filed a copyright infringement complaint before the Madhapur police station alleging that the storyline of the movie Mr. Perfect is based on her novel titled Na Manasu Korindi Ninne. India Today reported that the Madhapur police have registered a case against Mr. Dil Raju, Producer of the Film, Mr. Abburi Raviand, dialogue writer, and Mr. Dasaradh Kondapalli, Director of the film. “Mrs. Shyamala Rani’s novel ‘Naa Manasu Korindi Ninne’ was released in August 2010. She has alleged that we have copied her novel and made Mr. Perfect. But 18 months before the novel’s release, the story of Mr. Perfect was registered as ‘Navuthu’ with the Telugu Cine Writers’ Union (TCWU) on 19 February 2009,” stated Dasaradh in a press statement.
Copyright office to publish the list of applications received for copyright registration.
The Indian copyright office has decided to publish, the list of applications received for copyright registration on its website. The circular issued by the Copyright Office states that these publications would be treated as a notice to every person who claims or has any interest in the subject matter of the Copyright. In case no objection is received from any third party within 30 days of such publication, the applications will proceed for examination. The move is intended to enhance the transparency and speed of the copyright registration process in India.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW NEWS
Taylor Swift sued for plagiarism
The American pop star Taylor Swift is being sued by lyricists Sean Hall and Nathan Butler for plagiarizing the 2014 mega-hit song “Shake It Off”. The Lyricists allege that Swift used 20% of their song ‘Playas Gon Play’ in her song. “This is a ridiculous claim and nothing more than a money grant. The law is simple and clear. They do not have a case”, a spokesperson for Swift told the media.
LICENSING AND MERCHANDISING UPDATES
DQE makes several licensing deals in India for The Jungle Book
DQ Entertainment, the production and distribution company of children’s animation has recently entered into a promo licensing deal for the McVities line, with United Biscuits, with respect to its property ‘The Jungle Book’. They have also entered into other deals in India through their agent Viacom India, including kids’ apparel, plush, promotions, socks & underwear, bags, publishing etc. They recently also appointed a licensing and merchandising agents for North America, CPL for Latin America & Mexico, and CIMCA in Central America.
Twitter announces new collaborations for video content in the APAC region
Twitter recently at the “All That Matters” Business2Business2Fan event in Singapore announced that it has entered into 35 different collaborations in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region with entities such as Breakfast with Champions/Gaurav Kapur, Cricbuzz, Premier Futsal India, Anupama Chopra and Film Companion, Red Chillies Entertainment, Yash Raj Films, Rolling Stone India etc. to bring premium live and in-stream video content.
Satyajit Ray’s creation Feluda to feature on UBI debit cards
New customized debit cards from United Bank of India (UBI) will now feature the fictional private detective Pradosh C Mitter popularly known as Feluda, created by Satyajit Ray. Satyajit Ray’s son Sandip Ray stated that as of now there was no revenue-sharing agreement with the bank. Merchandise deals featuring fictional detectives is unheard of in the India, however in the west with iconic characters such as Sherlock Holmes and memorable characters from the Agatha Christie novels, merchandise deals with e-retailers are quite a commonplace.
BIP Tip of the Week
Copyrights and brochures
Corporate brochures which are important business tools of companies can be protected as copyrights. Companies must not only register their brochures but must also ensure that agreements with brochure designers transfer copyright ownership to them. Also, care must be taken to avoid using third party copyrighted works in brochures without permission.
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].
