Indian Copyright Statistics, Supreme Court Stays Criminal Proceedings Against Priya Prakash Varrier, IPRS seeks royalties from Telecos, Delhi High Court Stays Interim Statutory License Granted By Registrar Of Copyrights, Copyright Infringement Complaint Filed Against Fox Searchlight, Amazon Prime signs music licensing agreement with T-Series, Zee Entertainment launches new streaming platform ZEE5 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
“A brainy person does not abuse copyright; instead they respect it and uphold it.”- Maximillian Degenerz
INDIAN COPYRIGHT STATISTICS
There was a decrease of 6.4% in the total number of copyright filings compared to the last week. A total of 179 applications were filed for copyright registration during the last week. While most of the applications were filed for literary works and only 2 applications were filed for registering Sound Recordings.
| Sr. No | Types of work | Number of Applications previous week | Number of Applications this week | Percentage change |
| 1 | Literary Works | 124 | 110 | 11.9% |
| 2 | Musical works | 22 | 18 | 20% |
| 3 | Artistic works | 18 | 31 | 53% |
| 4 | Cinematograph Films | 4 | 1 | 120% |
| 5 | Sound Recordings | 2 | 0 | 200% |
| 6 | Software | 21 | 19 | 10% |
| Total | 191 | 179 | 6.4% |
INDIAN COPYRIGHTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW UPDATES
SUPREME COURT STAYS CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST PRIYA PRAKASH VARRIER
The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed all cases pending against the internet sensation Priya Prakash Varrier and ordered that no criminal proceedings should be taken against her and makers of the malayalm film Oru Adar Love till further hearing. Earlier, cases were registered against the actress and the producer of the film Oru Adar Love alleging that the song insulted Prophet Mohammad and his ‘pious wife’.
IPRS SEEKS ROYALTIES FROM TELECOS
Economic Times and SpicyIP reported that IPRS has sent notices to telecom carriers including Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Jio and platforms like Apple Itunes and YouTube for use of their works for streaming and downloads. “We have sent letters to all, asking them to obtain licence for the literary and musical works, sound recording and cinematographic film that we own as part of the value added services that they offer,” Rakesh Nigam, chief executive officer of IPRS, told Economic Times.
DELHI HIGH COURT STAYS INTERIM STATUTORY LICENSE GRANTED BY REGISTRAR OF COPYRIGHTS
The Delhi High Court has stayed an interim license granted by the Registrar of Copyrights, to a Punjab based firm Kuku and Koyal allowing it to broadcast entire repertoire of sound recordings of various music labels, including Saregama and T-Series. Saregama and T-Series challenged the decision on the ground that the Registrar of Copyrights lacked the jurisdiction to pass such orders. “This Court is, prima facie, of the view that such directions had to be complied in accordance with law and thus, if the Registrar of Copyrights did not have the power to issue a statutory licence, no such license could be granted. In view of the above, the interim statutory license, which is impugned in this petition, is stayed till the next date,” – the Court ordered.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW UPDATES
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST FOX SEARCHLIGHT
David Zindel, son of late Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Zindel, filed a complaint against Fox searchlight alleging that their film ‘The Shape of Water’, is substantially similar to his father’s play Let Me Hear You Whisper. David Zindel claims that, same as the film, his father’s work also depicted a lonely cleaning woman who works at a lab, bonds with an aquatic creature and breaks him out after learning authorities planned to kill him. “These claims from Mr. Zindel’s estate are baseless, wholly without merit and we will be filing a motion to dismiss. Furthermore, the estate’s complaint seems timed to coincide with the Academy Award voting cycle in order to pressure our studio to quickly settle. Instead, we will vigorously defend ourselves and, by extension, this groundbreaking and original film”- stated Fox in its statement.
LICENSING AND MERCHANDISING UPDATES
AMAZON PRIME SIGNS MUSIC LICENSING AGREEMENT WITH T-SERIES
Amazon Prime Music has signed a content licensing deal with the music label T-Series. As part of the deal, over 150,000 Bollywood and non-film tracks from the T-Series catalogue will be added to Prime Music. Besides T-Series, Prime Music has also struck similar deals with Venus Music, Sony Music, Saregama and Zee Music Company.
ZEE ENTERTAINMENT LAUNCHES NEW STREAMING PLATFORM ZEE5
Zee Entertainment has launched a streaming service called ZEE5. It will offer over 90 live TV Channels, TV Shows (both Indian and International); movies, original shows and other videos. The Zee5 app is now available on both the Play Store and the App Store.
COPYRIGHT TIP OF THE WEEK
Registering a copyright is not necessary for copyright protection, which starts automatically on creation of a work. However, registering a copyright provides prima facie proof of ownership and enables easy enforcement.
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].
