Copyright Act

DPIIT withdraws memo on extending scope of copyright rule to internet

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has withdrawn an office memorandum of September 2016 regarding extending the scope of a rule of copyright law to internet transmissions. In 2016, through an office memorandum, the government decided to include Internet broadcasting under the purview of the Copyright Act. DPIIT has said that in light of the decision of the Division Bench of the High Court of Bombay in the matter of Tips Industries Ltd vs Wynk Music Ltd, the office memorandum issued by the department on September 5, 2016, is "hereby rescinded". "This is regarding withdrawal of the office memorandum issued by the DPIIT on September 5, 2016, extending the scope of Section 31D to internet transmissions for clarity of the Indian as well as foreign internet streaming platforms as well as right holders," the memorandum dated August 21, 2024, said. This section talks about statutory licences for the broadcasting of literary and musical works and sound ...

Delhi HC restrains entities from using actor Jackie Shroff's name, voice

The Delhi High Court has restrained various entities from using actor Jackie Shroff's name, including sobriquets "Jackie" and "Jaggu Dadda", voice and images for commercial purposes without permission. Justice Sanjeev Narula, in an interim order dated May 15, said the entities selling wallpapers, T-shirts and posters, etc. on e-commerce websites and operating an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot platform were prima facie acting in violation of the actor's personality and publicity rights by exploiting and misappropriating his attributes. The judge also passed the direction against two content creators who published videos of Shroff with "extremely profane words and abuses". The court said Shroff is a celebrity and this status inherently grants him certain rights over his personality and associated attributes. "The plaintiff has established a prima facie case for grant of an ex-parte injunction. Balance of convenience lies in his favour and against defendants no. 3-4, 6-7, 13 and

World Book And Copyright Day 2024: Date, Theme, History and Importance

Every year on April 23, World Book and Copyright Day is observed. This day celebrates literature in all its forms and encourages readers to enjoy reading

The content of a copyright

Though often compared to theft, incorporating chunks of protected written works into your own - as critics must - will not land you in jail, Bellos and Montagu reassure

NYT vs OpenAI: Is the Indian legal system equipped to handle such cases?

The New York Times has sued OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, and Microsoft for copyright infringement. If such cases arise in India, is the country ready to handle them? Here's what experts suggest

Danish alliance's copyright notice could change the way AI is designed

Lawsuits prompt calls for transparency and compensation in the world of generative AI

Humans of Bombay vs People of India: All you need to know about the case

Social media platform Humans of Bombay filed a lawsuit against People of India for copying its content, logo, tagline, and the format it uses for stories

Will protect customers of AI products from copyright lawsuits: Microsoft

The company in June announced a program to help customers ensure the AI programs they run on Microsoft platforms meet global laws and regulations

Playing Bollywood songs at weddings is not copyright infringement: Govt

The DPIIT said it has received several complaints and grievances from the public and other stakeholders regarding the collection of royalties by copyright societies

Playing of songs in marriages not infringement of copyright law: Govt

Playing of songs in marriages does not constitute an infringement of copyright law and no one can charge a royalty for such activities, the government clarified on Monday. In a public notice, the Department for Promotion Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said that it has received several complaints, and grievances from the general public and other stakeholders about alleged collection of royalties by the Copyright Societies for performance of musical work in marriage functions in contravention to letter and spirit of section 52 (1) (za) of Copyright Act 1957. Section 52 of the act deals with certain acts which would not constitute an infringement of Copyright. It said that Section 52 (1) (za) specifically mentions the performance of literary, dramatic, or musical work or of a sound recording in the course of any bonafide religious ceremony or an official ceremony as not constituting infringement of copyright. Religious ceremony includes a marriage procession and other social ...

Telegram shares user info with Delhi High Court in copyright case

The plea was filed by Neetu Singh and KD Campus, seeking to restrain users from sharing their videos, lectures, and books on Telegram. The matter will be heard again on February 14 next year

Copyright infringement: Supreme Court allows Puma to withdraw its case

The Sports Company had filed a petition against an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in which the court had refused to quash a criminal complaint against it for copyright infringement

Google files second transparency report in accordance with new IT Rules

Removes over 150,000 pieces of content based on complaints received in May and June, over 98% of which were related to copyright

Gains in translation

Before 1914, there was no proper copyright legislation in India

Statutory licensing for online streaming: A case of legislative inaction

India possesses no guidelines to regulate the manner in which licences are to be obtained by online streaming services

Prawn seeds to trademarks, here are a few key court orders from last week

The Supreme Court has emphasised that according to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, there cannot be any special treatment given to the government as a party

The big questions in streaming music

Both publishing and video industries would gain from looking at the licensing battle being played out in the music business

Copyright lessons

It's the textbook publishers who need to be proactive

A torrent of bans

Blocking entire web domains hurts genuine users