“Postcard News: India” Facebook Page with 5 Lakh Followers Removed for Copyright Infringement, Southern Music Industry legends join Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS), Film maker Dayal Padmanabhan granted permission to use DVG’s Literature in their Song, Court dismisses the Copyright suit against the movie “The Shape of Water”, Man admits to Infringing Boeing GPS Copyright, Nintendo files a Copyright Infringement suit Against ROM Sites, Dutch Cheese Taste not protectable by Copyright, Kenneth Cole in Licensing Deal with Brandzstorm India, Rock Roll unveils bespoke Licensed Wall Coverings, Sony Music Sign Exclusive Pact with Prince’s Estate for 35 albums, Ted Baker enters Licence Agreement with Delta Galil, Jacqueline Fernandez unveils a New Active Wear Brand, ‘JUST F’.
COPYRIGHT QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The right to be attributed as an author of a work is not merely a Copyright, It is every author’s basic human right”
― Kalyan C. Kankanala, Fun IP, Fundamentals of Intellectual Property
INDIAN COPYRIGHT STATISTICS
There is a decrease of 16% in the total number of copyright applications filed this week as compared to the applications filed last week. A total of 277 applications were filed for copyright registration during the last week. Most of the applications were filed for literary and artistic works. Applications for musical works decreased substantially from 5 to 0.
| S. No | Types of Work | Number of Applications filed in the Previous Week (9th July to 15th July, 2018) |
Number of Applications filed in the Recent Week (16th July to 22nd July, 2018) |
Change | Percent Change |
| 1. | Literary Work | 197 | 182 | 15 | 7% decrease |
| 2. | Musical Work | 5 | 0 | 5 | 100% decrease |
| 3. | Artistic Work | 91 | 62 | 29 | 31% decrease |
| 4. | Cinematograph Film | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0% |
| 5. | Sound Recording | 6 |
5 | 1 | 17% decrease |
| 6. | Software | 20 | 19 | 1 | 5% decrease |
| Total | 328 | 277 | 51 | 16% decrease |
INDIAN COPYRIGHT NEWS
“Postcard News: India” Facebook Page with 5 Lakh Followers Removed for Copyright Infringement
Facebook has removed the “Postcard News” page, known for spreading fake news, for infringing copyrights rules laid down by Facebook. The page had received multiple warnings for violating copyright and posting videos owned by various sports channels. But despite these warnings, the page continued its violations and has been removed from the platform for violating copyright rules.
Southern Music Industry legends join Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS)
The Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) is the representative body that safeguards, defends and collects royalties on behalf of composers/lyricists/music producers. The southern legends Ilaiyaraaja and A.R. Rahman have joined the organisation recently. IPRS is expanding their regional drive to cover all the main music production centres of the country, in order to effectively collect royalties for its members.
Film maker Dayal Padmanabhan granted permission to use DVG’s Literature in their Song
Kannada filmmaker Dayal Padmanabhan had been alleged of violating the copyright of Kannada writer D.V. Gundappa’s (“DVG”) literature by a recording company. In response, Dayal Padmanabhan announced the permission granted for the use of certain lines of DVG’s literature from Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs for using in the song “Mankku Thimmana Kagga” in his Kannada film “Aa Karaala Ratri”.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT NEWS UPDATE
Court dismisses the Copyright suit against the movie “The Shape of Water”
The copyright suit against the plot of Oscar-winning fantasy film “The Shape of Water” has been dismissed by a US court. The case was filed by David Zindel for several similarities to his father’s play. The Judge accepted that plots were similar but ruled that the central concept was “too general to be protected” and that both the works “primarily explore different themes” despite minor similarities in expression of the idea.
Man admits to Infringing Boeing GPS Copyright
Craig Vincent from California has pleaded guilty to copyright violation of reselling the updates for a GPS (NavData) product of a Boeing subsidiary on eBay. NavData is a satellite-based data product used by aeroplanes in conjunction with the autopilot feature, operated by Jeppesen, a subsidiary of aerospace company Boeing. Vincent was found not to have the necessary permissions or licenses to resell NavData.
The US Court charged Vincent with the unlawful reproduction and distribution of copyright-protected works and punished with a fine of $250,000 and sentenced him up to five years in prison.
Nintendo files a Copyright Infringement suit Against ROM Sites
Famous video game company Nintendo has filed a copyright suit against the founder and owner of “LoveROMS” and “LoveRETRO” sites, seeking millions of dollars in damages for the infringement and claimed unfair competition. Nintendo stated the sites were “built almost entirely on the brazen and mass-scale infringement of Nintendo’s intellectual property rights.” The company is seeking $150,000 in damages per Nintendo title on the sites, plus as much as $2,000,000 for each infringed trademark.
Dutch Cheese Taste not protectable by Copyright
In 2014, Dutch food company Levola Hengelo accused Smilde Food of infringing the copyright of the taste of Heks’nkaas, a spreadable cheese product, by making a similar product called Witte Wievenkaas. The complaint was dismissed in lower platform, appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to determine whether the taste of the food product is covered by copyright protection.
CJEU held that the flavour of a food product does not constitute a ‘work’ eligible for copyright protection because tastes cannot be precisely or objectively identified. CJEU was of the opinion that ascertaining a flavor is a subjective experience and cannot be equated with any ‘works’ and such protection would have a chilling effect on competition.
MERCHANDISING AND LICENSING NEWS
Kenneth Cole in Licensing Deal with Brandzstorm India
Well known American clothing brand Kenneth Cole has replaced Reliance Brands with Brandzstorm India as its partner for designing, manufacturing, distributing and retailing its products in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The deal includes different product categories of Kenneth Cole, such as men and women’s apparel, handbags, footwear and travel gear. Besides Kenneth Cole, Brandzstorm has also signed a long-term exclusive master licensing agreement with Giordano International for apparel, footwear and accessories.
As a part of the 10-year master licensing partnership with Brandzstorm India, Kenneth Cole aims to touch 100 crore INR in India sales by 2020 and open about 10 stores in the country during the period.
Rock Roll unveils bespoke Licensed Wall Coverings
UK based Rock Roll has launched the world’s first officially licensed repeat wallpaper and large-scale murals of album artwork from seminal recording artists. It has come up with a new collection of luxury wall aesthetics, aiming to bring the full emotional impact of iconic cover art into life in the home. The range features artwork from The Who, Black Sabbath, Guns N’Roses, The Rolling Stones and more.
The wallpaper and murals have been designed in collaboration with well-known bands. Some iconic images, such as The Rolling Stones lip motif and Guns n Roses’ Appetite for Destruction, are featured, with all designs fully approved and licensed by the artists and their management.
Sony Music Sign Exclusive Pact with Prince’s Estate for 35 albums
“Sony Music Entertainment” and the estate of Prince Rogers Nelson, aka “Prince” or “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince”, have inked an exclusive distribution agreement covering 35 previously released album titles from the Prince catalogue. Nineteen of those Prince catalogue titles, originally released in the period between 1995-2010, will be available immediately. The Prince catalogue covered under the new agreement will be distributed by Legacy Recordings.
In addition to the album titles from the 1995-2010 era, the agreement also includes rights to other previously released material recorded post-1995 including singles, b-sides, remixes, non-album tracks, live recordings and music videos.
Ted Baker enters Licence Agreement with Delta Galil
British lifestyle retail brand Ted Baker has entered a five-year licensing agreement with Israel-based manufacturer of private label apparel Delta Galil industries to manufacture and distribute its products. This marks the 22nd licence agreement for Ted Baker across various categories such as fragrance, homeware and tailoring.
Jacqueline Fernandez unveils a New Active Wear Brand, ‘JUST F’
Jacqueline Fernandez along with Mojostar recently unveiled the “Just F” collection exclusively on Amazon Fashion with an official launch on 17th July, 2018. It is a women-focused active wear brand, designed and created with the modern Indian woman in mind. The Just F collection offers over 100 styles on Amazon Fashion managed and handpicked by Jacqueline including sports bras, tops, shorts and skirts, tights and tracks, dresses, sweatshirts and jackets. The brand aims to democratize modern active wear for women without compromising on quality.
COPYRIGHT TIP
Copyright works need not be registered, however in instance of infringement the existence of a valid copyright registration would prima facie authenticate your ownership claims.
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 – contact@bananaip.com
