Indian Copyrights and Entertainment Law Updates, International Copyrights and Entertainment Law Updates, BIP Tip of the week and more presented by the Media & Entertainment Law attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s Premier New Age IP Firm.
Copyright quote of the week
“Copyright law has got to give up its obsession with ‘the copy.’ The law should not regulate ‘copies’ or ‘modern reproductions’ on their own. It should instead regulate uses; like public distributions of copies of copyrighted work; that connect directly to the economic incentive copyright law was intended to foster”
– Lawrence Lessig,
Indian Copyrights and Entertainment Law Updates
Magadheera makers withdraw copyright infringement case against Raabta
The producers of the Ramcharan movie Magadheera withdrew the copyright infringement case against the makers of the film Raabta on Thursday. Earlier, Allu Aravind, the producer of the film Magadheera, had approached the Delhi High Court seeking an injunction against the release of the film Raabta alleging that the plot and storyline of the upcoming Sushant Sing Rajput starrer is copied from Magadheera. During the case hearing, Raabta’s team claimed that the plot and storyline of the films are not similar to the storyline of Magadheera. Director Dinesh Vijan had earlier stated that “Reincarnation as a genre is very popular. There have been films like Karan Arjun, Madhumati, Om Shanti Om and Magadheera. This genre has been done a couple of times and now I have come into this space (of reincarnation). I am a huge fan of S S Rajamouli and his films like Baahubali and I would never copy him. There is a similarity in the genre. I am confident that not even one scene is copied from their film.”
Hoshiar Singh appointed as Registrar of Copyrights
Mr. Hoshiar Singh, a 1994 batch officer of the Indian Telecom Service, is appointed as the Registrar of Copyrights vide an order passed by the Department of Personnel and Training. The appointment is for a fixed term of five years. The Copyright Office is under the immediate control and superintendence of the Registrar of Copyrights.
Maharashtra CM in support of lower GST demanded by the entertainment industry
In a meeting between the Film and Television Producers Guild of India, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, the Guild brought to the fore various concerns of the industry regarding the GST. CM Fadnavis, in support of the Guild’s demand, stated that the state government will back its demand of 18% GST from 28% in the forthcoming GST Council meeting. President of the Guild, Mr.Siddharth Roy Kapur stated that 18% or lower GST on cinema tickets would be in line with the taxation norms all around the world and ultimately benefit the industry.
International Copyrights and Entertainment Law Updates
Photographer sues Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters over Tupac T-shirts
Photographer, Danny Clinch has filed copyright infringement suit against the fashion brands Urban Outfitters and Forever 21 claiming that they have used his photos of rapper Tupac Shakur on their T-shirts without his permissions. The impugned photographs were featured on the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine in 1993 and 1996. Clinch is demanding USD 600,000 in damages and destruction of remaining inventories of t-shirts.
BIP Tip of the Week:
Before filing a copyright infringement suit, it is advisable to conduct a comprehensive comparison of both works to ensure that the infringing work is substantially similar to the original work. Filing suits merely on the basis of similarities in movie trailers is not recommended. Having said that if it can be inferred from the analysis of the trailer and information/ communication about the film including press releases, that the work may be infringing then filing a suit may be an option. Once the full script of the film is available the decision to continue with the suit may be taken after performing a detailed analysis.
