Indian Copyright Statistics, SHIKARI SHAMBU in trade mark trouble?, India ranked 44 in Global IP Index, Beyonce sued for copyright infringement, Google encourages piracy says VideoLan, LiveTree introduces block chain- based Film and TV rights Funding and Distribution Platform 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
“The Copyright bargain: a balance between protection for the artist and rights for the consumer” -Robin Gross
INDIAN COPYRIGHT STATISTICS
There was a decrease of 29.5% in the total number of copyright filings compared to the last week. A total of 191 applications were filed for copyright registration during the last week. While most of the applications were filed for literary works and only 2 applications were filed for registering Sound Recordings.
| Sr. No | Types of work | Number of Applications previous week | Number of Applications this week | Percentage change |
| 1 | Literary Works | 167 | 124 | 29.5% |
| 2 | Musical works | 26 | 22 | 16.6% |
| 3 | Artistic works | 32 | 18 | 56% |
| 4 | Cinematograph Films | 2 | 4 | 66.4% |
| 5 | Sound Recordings | 1 | 2 | 66.6% |
| 6 | Software | 13 | 21 | 47% |
| Total | 241 | 191 | 23.14%% |
INDIAN COPYRIGHTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW UPDATES
SHIKARI SHAMBU IN TRADE MARK TROUBLE?
The publishing house, Amar Chitra Katha has filed a petition before the Bombay High Court to restrain a Kerala based film producer from infringing its trade mark rights over the mark Shikari Shambu. The publishing house alleges that the Producer S K Lawrence has used the mark Shikari Shambu as the title of his film without obtaining any permission from them. When the matter was heard, the producer who was present in the court, agreed to pay the publishing house the license amount for such usage following which the matter was adjourned by the court.
INDIA RANKED 44 IN GLOBAL IP INDEX
India has improved its score in the International Intellectual Property Index and is currently ranked at 44th position among fifty nations. “India’s overall score has increased substantially from 25% (8.75 out of 35) in the 5th edition of the Index to 30% (12.03 out of 40) in the 6th edition,” stated the annual report prepared by the Global Innovation Policy Centre (GIPC) of the US Chambers of Commerce. Despite improvement in its score, India continues to remain at the bottom of the ladder due to limited framework for protection of life sciences IP, patentability requirements outside international standards, lengthy pre-grant opposition proceedings, compulsory licensing promotions among other factors.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW UPDATES
BEYONCE SUED FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Kimberly Roberts, the producer of the documentary film Trouble The Water, has filed a copyright infringement suit against Beyonce for using a footage from her documentary in Beyonce’s album Formation. According to Roberts, she shot video of her home flooding during Hurricane Katrina. Although she signed an agreement with Beyonce’s producers to include the footing in their album, Roberts alleges that she received no payments from them.
LICENSING AND MERCHANDISING UPDATES
LIVETREE INTRODUCES BLOCK CHAIN- BASED FILM AND TV RIGHTS FUNDING AND DISTRIBUTION PLATFORM
LiveTree the crowdfunding company known for funding Films and television programs has now introduced the world’s first funding and distribution platform for films and television, based on block chain technology. The platform is known as ADEPT (Advanced Decentralized Entertainment Platform for Transparent distribution). The platform will be used to manage the rights of Films and Television content and now the supporters or the backers of such films and television programs will now receive a profit from their investment if the film/television program is successful.
COPYRIGHT TIP OF THE WEEK
Using names of fictional characters for businesses may be fraught with certain risks. In such case, you may be held liable for violating trade mark rights and for creating false endorsement between your business and the publishing house owning the character.
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.
