Spotify Removes Saregama Content, MEITy Announces Fintech Awards for Promoting Digital Payments, Nora Roberts Sues Brazilian Author for Copyright Infringement, Mattel Expands Global Licensing Agreements with Disney and Pixar,Bitmax Signs Licensing Agreement with MTonomy, Twitter Inks New Content Deals with ESPN, Viacom and more
Copyright Quote
“Copyrights do not and cannot trump publicity rights, they are mutually exclusive” – Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala
Copyright Statistics
There is an increase of 12% in the total number of copyright applications filed for the month of March as compared to the month of February. A total of 1731 applications were filed in the month of April, 2019. The majority of applications were filed for literary works and artistic works.
| S. No | Type of Work | Number of Applications filed in the month of March 2019 |
Number of Applications filed in month of April 2019 | Change | Percentage Change |
| 1. | Literary Work | 990 | 984 | 6 | Decrease of 1 % |
| 2. | Musical Work | 35 | 51 | 16 | Increase of 46% |
| 3. | Artistic Work | 331 | 445 | 114 | Increase of 34% |
| 4. | Cinematograph Film | 7 | 17 | 10 | Increase of 143% |
| 5. | Sound Recording | 42 | 104 | 62 | Increase of 148% |
| 6. | Software | 137 | 130 | 7 | Decrease of 5% |
| Total | 1542 | 1731 | 189 | Increase of 12% |
Indian Copyright News
Spotify Removes Saregama Content
Following the filing of a suit by Saregama, India’s oldest record label, in the Delhi High Court, steaming platform Spotify has removed the label’s content from its platform. Saregama claims that it was in the process of negotiating with Spotify, and had allowed Spotify to make its music available to users, but no agreement had been reached. Spotify has now agreed to pull down Saregama’s catalog from its service over the next few days. This suit comes barely 2 months after Spotify’s battle with Warner Music over the licensing of its catalog for the platform.
MEITy Announces Fintech Awards for Promoting Digital Payments
The Minitsry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy) has announced that it will be awarding Financial Technology (Fintech) companies for promoting the use of digital payments. The categories include payment infrastructure in rural areas, innovation through emerging technology and innovation through digital lending. Interested Fintech companies will have to first submit a detailed application and shortlisted companies will have to subsequently make detailed presentations/demonstrations t the selection committee. The deadline to receive applications is May 30th, 2019. More details, including the application forms and instructions, are available here.
International News
Nora Roberts Sues Brazilian Author for Copyright Infringement
Bestselling romance author Nora Roberts has filed a suit for copyright infringement against Brazilian writer Christiane Serruya in a court in Brazil. In the suit, Roberts alleges that Serruya has committed infringement on a “rare and scandalous” level, by creating a “literary patch work” of sorts by copying from multiple books. Roberts is asking for damages at 3,000 times the value of the highest sale price for any Serruya work mentioned in the lawsuit, which is permitted under Brazilian Law. Serruya has claimed she received no notification of a suit, and has said she is using software to analyse her books.
Licensing and Merchandising News
Mattel Expands Global Licensing Agreements with Disney and Pixar
Looking to build on the success of “Toy Story 3” and “Cars” franchises, leading toy-maker Matttel has expanded its global licensing agreements with Disney and Pixar ahead of the highly-anticipated “Toy Story 4.” Mattel has also acquired international rights to upcoming 2020 Pixar films, including “Onward,” as well as Pixar Animation Studios’ film properties “Coco,” “Finding Nemo,” “Monsters, Inc.,” and “The Incredibles.” Mattel’s licensing rights in North America, Europe, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand include a wide variety of products, such as action figures, miniature and novelty figures, plush and playsets available beginning in May 2020.
Twitter Inks New Content Deals with ESPN, Univision, Viacom
At the annual NewFront presentation, Twitter unveiled several live and on-demand content deals with ESPN, Viacom, Bloomberg and other partners. The agreements cover news, sports, gaming and entertainment programming and live events, and will join Twitter’s existing range of programs, which is an already impressive list covering content from major sports leagues, CNN, Marvel and Buzzfeed.
Bitmax Signs Licensing Agreement with MTonomy
Digital media management company Bitmax has partnered with MTonomy for licensing of new content to MTonomy users. MTonomy, which uses blockchain-based technology for digital media rights and content management, allows users to make payments using cryptocurrencies. Through the partnership, millions of cryptocurrency users around the world will have secure access to Bitmax’s video content, including movies, documentaries, TV series and digital shorts, which they can buy or rent using cryptocurrencies.
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
