Hello Readers!! There has been a lot that has been brewing over the past few weeks with respect to Trademarks. We have decided to recapitulate the trademark news which have recently hit the headlines in our segment, Weekly Trends. Let us take a quick look at what happened in the past weeks, with this weekly update.
Dish Tv India restrained from operating in Middle East and North Africa
As you may or may not know Dish TV India Ltd.was…
In today’s edition of Weekly Trends, we bring to you copyright law related news. Let us see the trending headlines for the past couple of weeks.
Section 31D of the Copyright Act, 1957 (as amended) to include internet broadcasting organizations
Section 31D of the Copyright Act, 1957 titled “Statutory license for broadcasting of literary and musical works and sound recording” was inserted vide the 2012 Copyright Amendment Act. The Section mainly lays down certain mandatory compliances for the broadcasting organizations…
The Indian Singers Rights Association v. Chapter 25 Bar and Restaurant
Citation:CS (OS) 2068/2015 & IA No. 14261/2015
Facts
The Defendant in this case, Chapter 25 Bar and Restaurant during the month of April 2015 had been illegally communicating to the public numerous songs containing performances of various member singers of the Plaintiff copyright society, Indian Singers Rights Association (ISRA), without obtaining appropriate clearance from ISRA and paying the requisite royalty fee. ISRA had issued a legal notice against the Defendant…
The CJEU recently delivered a judgement we all had been waiting for, GS Media v Sanoma Media Netherlands and Others (C-160/15). Just to jog your memory here are the facts of the case:
The publisher of Playboy Sanoma had commissioned a photo shoot of the model/TV presenter Britt Dekker. The unpublished photos from the photo shoot were made available by GS Media on its website GeenStijl, without any authorization from the copyright holder. Sanoma filed a copyright infringement suit against…
The much awaited decision of the Delhi High Court in The Chancellor, Masters & Scholars Of The University Of Oxford & Ors.versus Rameshwari Photocopy Services & Anr has been delivered yesterday.
Case Citation
The Chancellor, Masters & Scholars Of The University Of Oxford & Ors. v. Rameshwari Photocopy Services & Anr. CS(OS) No.2439/2012
Date of decision: 16th September, 2016.
Deductions
Some quick deductions from a first reading of the decision are provided hereunder for the reader's reference.
In this case,…
Demi Lovato, an acclaimed singer is currently facing allegations of copyright infringement for her song ‘Stars’. Sleigh Bells has sued Demi Lovato in a California Federal Court, alleging that there exists striking similarities between Demi Lovato’s ‘stars’ and their band’s ‘Infinity Guitars’. ‘Infinity Guitars’ is one of the most popular and recognizable tracks of the band ‘Sleigh Bells’. Demi Lovato’s song, ‘Stars’ was released last year as a bonus track in her album ‘Confident’. The song ‘Infinity Guitars’ was released in…
We all know Donald Trump is a presidential hopeful, has been a savvy business man and somehow always manages to make or stay in the news. This time however it is not his doing. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has come up with a mascot which bears a striking resemblance to a famous Disney duck, but with the slight variation of Trump's blond mop of hair. The mascot is called “Donald Ducks” and will be used by the committee to…
Singer and song writer Ed Sheeran is currently facing a copyright lawsuit with reference to his music ‘Thinking out loud’. The heirs of of singer, songwriter and producer Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Marvin Gaye's 1973 soul staple "Let's Get It On'',filed a suit against Ed Sheeran on Tuesday in the Federal court in the Southern District of New York. Ed Townsend and Marvin Gaye co-wrote the song. Townsend's heirs are now suing Sheeran and they are claiming that Ed Sheeran has…
Another film met the fate of being brought before the court in the 11th hour for plagiarism. The film Mohenjo Daro, directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar is scheduled for release on 12th August 2016. The movie was brought before the Bombay High Court with a claim that it was a product of plagiarism. But the film triumphed its first ever legal battle.
The Plaintiff, Mr. Akshayaditya Harishchandra Lama ("Lama") claimed that the 1st Defendant, Mr. Ashutosh Gowarikar directed film Mohenjo Daro…
The makers of the movie 'Mohenjo Daro' heaved a sigh of relief when the Bombay HC on August 2nd,2016 (Tuesday) dismissed a plea for an interim relief by the plaintiff who had alleged that the director of the movie had supposedly infringed his copyright in the script. The plaintiff, Akashaditya Lama had sent a legal notice to the producers of the movie Mohenjo Daro,director Ashutosh Gowariker and Hrithik Roshan, seeking a stay on the film’s production and release. He alleged…