Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan’s licensing deals, Bihar Chief Minister in Copyright trouble, Lipstick and Harry Ashok Kumar Orders, Kajal Agarwal’s publicity rights, Akshay Kumar Toilet….Relief, Copyright and Bihar 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
“Copyrights do not and cannot trump publicity rights, they are mutually exclusive” – Dr. Kalyan
INDIAN COPYRIGHTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW UPDATES
Bihar Chief Minister in Copyright trouble
Atul Kumar Singh, a former JNU student filed a copyright infringement suit against a book published by Patna –based Asian Developed Research Institute and endorsed by Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar. Atul alleges that the book is a plagiarized version of his research work. Atul also alleges that Nitish Kumar’s name was earlier given as the author of the infringed publication, which was later turned into “endorser” after receiving his complaint. Chief Minister’s counsels filed a plea to delete his name as the defendant from the suit. However, the joint registrar rejected Nitish Kumar’s contention and noted that that facts of the case are cumulatively sufficient to give Atul a right to sue Nitish.
Lipstick under my Burkha and Jab Harry Met Sejal’s Ashok Kumar Orders
A total of 2,650 websites have been blocked vide the orders of Madras High Court to prevent the unauthorized distribution of the recent Bollywood films Lipstick under my Burkha and Jab Harry Met Sejal. It has been reported that the Orders even blocked the website www.internetarchive.org, an online library which hosts an archive of various web pages. An Ashok Kumar injunction is an order passed in a petition filed against a list of unknown and unnamed defendants, to prevent the possibility of copyright infringement, and this order is effectively used by film producers at the time of theatrical releases.
Kajal Agarwal publicity right plea dismissed
The Madras High Court has rejected a petition filed by the actress Kajal Agarwal seeking damages of Rs 2.50 crores from a coconut oil manufacturing firm with respect to the use of a commercial in which she appeared earlier. The actress argued that the Firm had no right to use the advertisement materials of 2008 in subsequent years without her consent. However, the court held that the Firm is the owner of the copyright in respect of the commercial and that it had right to screen the commercial as the actress had already received remuneration for her performance.
Relief for Akshay Kumar’s Toilet: Ek Prem Katha; Jaipur Court rejects copyright infringement case
The Jaipur Metropolitan Court on August 5th rejected the plea filed by the Film maker Pratik Sharma seeking a stay on the release of Akshay Kumar starrer Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. SS Hora, Counsel for Viacom 18 in his statement said “After hearing arguments for three successive days, the Jaipur Metropolitan Court prima facie found no merit in the case and rejected the application.”
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW NEWS
Take-Two argues Tattoos in ‘NBA 2K’ are fair use
Readers may recall the ongoing dispute between the video game publisher Take Two and the tattoo designers Solid Oak. The Hollywood Reporter reported that the publisher submitted a motion on Wednesday for judgment on the pleading and argued that it has every right to showcase players as they appear in real life. “In essence, Solid Oak argues that these public figures must seek its permission every time they appear in public, film or photographs and that those that create new works depicting the players as they actually appear (with their Tattoos) should be enjoined and pay damages to Solid Oak,” said Take-Two attorney Dale Cendali in a statement.
LICENSING AND MERCHANDING UPDATES
SRK and Salman Khan sign deals with streaming platforms
Bollywood actor Salman Khan recently signed an exclusive, worldwide streaming deal with Amazon Prime, which as per sources is one of the biggest deals a star has signed till date. As per the deal terms, Salman Khan’s future releases will be available on the platform after the theatrical premier and two months before the satellite and TV broadcast, which is largely unheard of. The first film to be made available as a part of the deal will be the June release Tubelight.
Shah Rukh Khan’s production house Red Chillies Entertainment has also recently signed an exclusive film licensing deal with Amazon Prime’s competitor Netflix for future films.
Hotstar and Showtime join hands
The CBS Corporation brand Showtime comes to India thanks to the content licensing and trade mark deal signed by CBS and the streaming platform Hotstar. Paid subscribers will be able to enjoy shows such as Twin Peaks amongst other content.
Netflix goes east
Netflix has recently partnered with Anurag Kashyap’s production house Phantom Films to produce an original series in Hinglish which will be based on the bestselling book Sacred Games by the Indian author Vikram Chandra.
BANANA TIP OF THE WEEK
Celebrities and endorsements
Celebrities must ensure that their endorsement contracts contain clear and well-defined restrictions with respect to use of works created for purposes of endorsement. These restrictions can take the shape of limitations on use of publicity rights, performance rights, and /or other.
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 – contact@bananaip.com.
