Javed Akhtar Sends a Moral Rights Violation Notice to Malik Brothers, A Decree for Rs. 10 lakhs Passed Ex Parte in Favor of Plaintiff, Copyright Office Issues Public Notice Regarding Practice and Procedure Manual for Examinations of Copyright Applications, Public Sector Information Directive to be revised by the European Commission, EU introduces right to portability, Music Modernization Act Passed by House of Representatives in the U.S., India Specific Barbie dolls launched, Popeye on new merchandises soon and more are 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
Moral Rights are the foundation of Copyright Law. Respect for Moral Rights is integral towards nurturing copyright culture. – Dr. Kalyan C Kankanala
INDIAN COPYRIGHTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW UPDATES
Javed Akhtar Sends a Moral Rights Violation Notice to Malik Brothers
Amaal and Armaan Malik, commonly known as Malik Brothers in Bollywood, recently made a reprised version of the song “Ghar se nikalte hi”, the lyrics of the original version of which had been authored by Javed Akhtar. The lyrics for this new version were authored by Kunal Verma. Owing to the verbatim copying of the “mukhda” of this song, Javed Akhtar has reportedly sent a notice to Malik brothers and Super cassettes Industries Private Limited for violation of his moral rights to paternity and integrity. His claims are based on two grounds, firstly, his authorship of literary work in the lyrics has not been acknowledged and secondly, his work has been subject to mutilation, distortion and modification in such a way that it would be prejudicial to his honor and reputation.
A Decree for Rs. 10 lakhs Passed Ex Parte in Favor of Plaintiff
In a matter consisting violation of patent law, trademark law as well as copyright law, Victor and Ors. v Maxycon Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. and Ors., the Hon’ble Delhi High Court held that evasive practice of the Defendants to recuse themselves from participating in the proceedings should not allow them to continue enjoying the benefits of infringing the intellectual property rights of the Plaintiffs. With respect to copyright, in this particular case, it was found that one of the defendants had indulged in the blatant copying of content on plaintiff’s website which amounted to an infringement of copyright on a combined reading of § 51 and § 14 of the Copyright Act, 1957.
COPYRIGHT OFFICE UPDATE
Copyright Office Issues Public Notice Regarding Practice and Procedure Manual for Examinations of Copyright Applications
In order to increase transparency and reduce the delay in processing of copyright applications, Copyright office on 27th April 2018, issued guidelines for examinations of copyright applications for literary, artistic, musical, cinematograph film and sound recording works. On 27th February 2018, Copyright office published draft guidelines on its website, seeking reviews and comments from the stakeholders. Relevant suggestions are included in the draft guidelines and now the final guidelines have been issued. You can access the guidelines on this link.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW UPDATES
Public Sector Information Directive to be revised by the European Commission
The EC has documented and published recommendations on access to and preservation of Scientific Information in furtherance of its acknowledgment of the significant public funded research in the advancement of science and the need to impose the fewest possible extent of restrictions on its use and accessibility. Dissemination of scientific knowledge and open access to results of the publicly funded research was one of the recommendations of the Commission to the Member States.
EU introduces right to portability
In light of the differences existing in the copyright laws of several member states of the European Union, subscribers to online content services like Netflix were able to access the subscribed content throughout EU due to unavailability of the same due to residence-based geo-blocking. To resolve this anomaly, a regulation was passed that will ensure access to such content in all EU states in the same way as it is available in the home state subscription. This would make all subscribers who travel for a limited period of time to another EU Member State without changing their residency, entitled to a right to portability in light of the content available to them through these subscriptions.
Music Modernization Act Passed by House of Representatives in the U.S.
In order to keep up with the advancement of technology, the legislature needs to frame new laws to regulate industry practices in the context of new areas explored in light of technological developments. This Music Modernization legislation is an apt example of the same. This legislation aims to modernize copyright law at par with the music industry by laying down a licensing process for online streaming services. It is speculated that this legislation will be beneficial for various stakeholders including lyricists, publishers and artists. Passed by the House of Representatives, this bill will now move to the Senate before being signed into law by the U.S. President.
LICENSING AND MERCHANDISING UPDATES
India Specific Barbie dolls launched
Mattel Toys is launching India specific Barbie Dolls with 6 different identities and persona. The new collection will focus on iconic India monuments the dolls are expected to be substantially Indianized and attractive to Indian customers.
Popeye on new merchandises soon
King Features, proprietors of Classic comic book character “Popeye” are planning to launch new Popeye merchandise including apparels, accessories and footware, on Popeye’s 90th anniversary in 2019. King Features has recently finalised many merchandise deals including T-shirts from Vision/Eleven Apparel in Canada, t-shirts, hoodies, and pajamas from Oaktarget Garments Limited in UK and Ireland, swimwear and accessories from Taymory in various territories and toys from Funko. King Features have also launched a new logo, interactive website and a new YouTube channel for Popeye, which have resulted in an instantaneous boost in Popeye’s social media with about 3.2 million minutes of content watched in last month itself. The YouTube channel may be accessed here.
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 merchandise 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].
