Following the recommendations given in independent report by Professor Ian Hargreaves in 2011, the UK Government had come up with several changes in the copyright law covering aspects of fair dealing for accessible formats for the disabled, research and education, public administration, parody and personal copies for private use. Of these, the regulations allowing personal copies of legally-bought music to be made for private use, under exceptions to the copyright law, are facing strong resistance from the UK music industry.…
The second visit of President Barack Obama to India, the first US President to have visited India twice while in office, clearly highlights the global partnership between the two nations in the task of strengthening economies and strong democracies. Referring to said partnership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the partnership assumes great relevance in the digital age.
In this age of modern digital technology, an issue that has been nagging the industrial sector, particularly the Entertainment Industry, is online…
Here's a sneak peak (possible spoiler) at what Pirates of Bollywood brings to its readers in its court arguments on copyright infringement.. Alluring, isn't it? Read on then.
Pirates of Bollywood - Court Arguments on Copyright Infringement- An Excerpt (Chapter 59)
Sipping on her coffee, Justice Somaiya said, “Counsels, let us start the rebuttals session. As I indicated earlier, we will not be following the standard procedure, and I will interrupt only, if and when, things get out of…
The revenues from digital formats of music, as per an article published by RIAA, was about US$ 4.4B in 2013, and is growing at a exponential rate. The evolution of novel modes and means of digital exploitation has opened doors to music creators and owners across the world, as well as pirates. With more than 500 record labels releasing recordings in more than 20 languages, the music business in India is not only very large, but also diverse. The share of digital…
Imagine, one day, if Copyright Laws were changed to account for the legality of a parody, a caricature or a pastiche[i], based on whether a Judge found it funny. For the citizens of UK, that day was October 1, 2014. Amendments to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, have done exactly this. Along with changes in Parody Law, there’s a new freedom by law to create personal copies, for private use[ii]. The UK Copyright Law, known to be anything but…
Following recommendations given in an independent report by Professor Ian Hargreaves in 2011, the UK Government had come up with several changes in the Copyright Law, covering aspects of fair dealing for accessible formats for the disabled, research and education, public administration, parody and personal copies for private use. Of these, regulations allowing personal copies of legally-bought music to be made for private use under exceptions to copyright are facing strong resistance from the UK music industry. Having come into force…
For all of us waiting to hear of development in the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012, yes, we have some news for you. It is not for Lyricists, or for Music Composers, but for Singers this time!
The Indian Singers Rights Association (ISRA) has obtained a favourable order against one of the Delhi based clubs, Night Fever Club & Lounge, that has been playing songs and not paying Singers their due. The ISRA filed a suit against this lounge before the Delhi High Court…
One might ask, how do 127-year-old immortal characters of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson achieve emancipation? The answer is simple: Sherlock’s free for all now, as a direct result of Leslie Klinger v. Conan Doyle Estate Ltd[i]. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, US, vide Order dated June 16, 2014, clarified that the characters of the Sherlockean World, creations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, are in the public domain now, as their copyright expired as early as 1997. With the…
The Copyright Amendment brought in a few important changes with respect to mode of assignment of works. Not exercising due care with these provisions might result in reversion of rights. Thankfully, some of these changes were all encompassing and not limited only to authors or owners of works for films.
Relevant provisions of Section 19 read as follows:
"19. Mode of assignment. ...
(4) Where the assignee does not exercise the rights assigned to him under any of the other…
This post was first published on June 25th, 2014.
We reviewed the existing scenario in the entertainment industry with respect to the protection of ideas, in my previous post - how to protect ideas. Before we move on to discuss the tool that can be used to protect original ideas/concepts that are not expressed in a tangible form, let us take a look at the practices followed in the entertainment industry by both the generator and the receiver of ideas.…