Restraint on Prasar Bharati, Why BananaIP?, Another suit against Spotify, Botox License, Music Cross License between Alibaba, and Tencent 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
“If you create something, you don’t want someone else to go and profit from it; you have your right to make a living from your work. So I respect copyright.” — Kim Dotcom
INDIAN COPYRIGHTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW UPDATES
Prasar Bharati restrained from retransmitting sporting events to private cable operators
Recently, the Supreme Court held that Prasar Bharati cannot engage in retransmission of signals of live sporting or cricketing events provided by Star India to cable operators. The court was dismissing the appeals filed by Prasar Bharti and Home Cable Network Private Limited against the 2015 Delhi High Court decision that the cable operators must not be allowed to retransmit the live broadcasting signals shared by Star through the designated Doordarshan Channels. “…under Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007, the live feed received by Prasar Bharati from content rights owners or holders is only for the purpose of re-transmission of the said signals on its own terrestrial and DTH networks and not to Cable Operators so as to reach such consumers who have already subscribed to a cable network” ordered a bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Naveen Sinha.
Is the Name BananaIP Entertaining?
Our firm’s name, BananaIP, is quite entertaining for many. In his article entitled, Why the Name BananaIP? Why Not? https://www.bananaip.com/ip-news-center/why-the-name-bananaip-why-not/ Dr. Kalyan C Kankanala made a valiant attempt to defend the name. You may read the article here, and let us know if you agree with his logic behind the name.
One industry that embraced the name BananaIP with open hearts is the entertainment industry. None of our clients in the entertainment sector raised a sarcastic brow when they heard the name for the first time. Some of them love the name, and congratulated us for our excellent choice. Seems that entertainers are more open, and less held up by notions than others.
ENTERTAINMENT LITIGATION UPDATES
Another suit against Spotify
Seven Music Publishers have recently sued Spotify for copyright infringement in a Nashville Court. They are alleging that Spotify’s music streaming activities without appropriate licenses violate their copyrights. Spotify earlier settled a couple of multi-million dollar law suits filed by music labels and song writers on similar grounds.
ENTERTAINMENT PATENT NEWS
Visible Youth to get a boost from BOTOX License
Integumen has signed a patent license agreement with Dr. Gary Hack with respect to Botox Booster patents. The patents relate to inventions for extending the cosmetic benefits of botulinum toxin. The patents, when they reach the market, will be part of the company’s Visible Youth cosmetic products.
ENTERTAINMENT LICENSING AND MERCHANDIZING UPDATES
KISS, Aerosmith, and John Lennon Merchandize on Amazon soon
Epic Rights, a licensing firm, has partnered with Amazon to launch exclusive merchandize of music bands and celebrities. The initial launch is expected to include shirts and phone accessories bearing artistic works of bands such as KISS and Aerosmith, and John Lennon. The merchandize is expected to be available for consumers all over the world.
Music Cross License between Alibaba, and Tencent
Alibaba and Tencent have entered into a cross licensing deal with respect to music rights they hold. Under the license agreement, Tencent and Entertainment Group agreed to license Warner, Sony and Universal’s music to Alibaba, and Ali Music agreed to license Rock Record’s music to Tencent. After the agreement, a wide variety of musical works are expected to be available on multiple platforms.
BANANAIP’S ENTERTAINMENT LAW TIP OF THE WEEK
Hotels and Music Licenses
Hotels and Restaurants playing music for their customers will be liable for copyright infringement if they do not acquire a valid copyright license. Licenses may be easily acquired from aggregators and copyright societies, and hotel/restaurant owners must acquire appropriate licenses if they wish to play copyrighted music. It may be noted that blanket licenses to play a large catalogue of songs may be acquired for a reasonable license fee.
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].
