High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Commercial Division | Decided: 23rd April, 2019 Notice of Motion (L) No. 197 of 2018 in Commercial IP Suit (L) No. 114 of 2018 and Notice of Motion (L) No. 198 of 2018 in Commercial IP Suit (L) No. 113 of 2018 Bench: S.J. Kathawalla, J. Citation: AIRONLINE 2019 […]
High Court of Delhi at New Delhi | CS(OS) 1185/2006 & I.A. Nos. 6486/2006, 6487/2006, 7027/2006; CS(OS) 1996/2009 & I.A. No. 13692/2009 Background The Indian Performing Right Society Ltd., referred to throughout as IPRS, is a non-profit cooperative body incorporated in August 1969 with the object of monitoring, administering and enforcing the performing rights of
The Indian Performing Right Society Ltd. v. Mr. Aditya Pandey & Anr. Read More »
Delhi High Court (Division Bench) | AIR 1985 Delhi 29 | 1 August 1984 | Avadh Behari Rohatgi, J. Background Penguin Books Ltd. of England, the plaintiff-appellant, is one of the world’s most recognized publishing houses. It held territorially exclusive licenses and assignments of copyright in 23 titles for the Indian market – including celebrated
Penguin Books Ltd. v. India Book Distributors & Ors. Read More »
Kerala High Court | C.M.A. No. 329 of 1995 | 27 February 1996 | T.V. Ramakrishnan, J. Background The original drama at the centre of this dispute is Ningal Enne Communistakki (“Who Made You a Communist?”), written in 1952 by the celebrated Malayalam playwright Thoppil Bhasi while he was living in political hiding as an
Civic Chandran & Others v. C. Ammini Amma & Others Read More »
Delhi High Court | CS(COMM) 1329/2016 | 8 July 2019 | Manmohan J. Background Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd., the plaintiff, is one of India’s most prominent film production houses with an established reputation in the domestic and international film industry. On 10th December 2010, the plaintiff released its Hindi film Band Baaja Baaraat across
Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd. v. Sri Sai Ganesh Productions & Ors. Read More »
Copyright law operates on two distinct but interconnected axes. The first is economic – the bundle of exclusive rights that allows a creator to control the reproduction, distribution, performance and communication of their work and to extract financial value from it. The second is personal – the connection between a creator and their work that
Moral Rights and Author’s Special Rights under Section 57 of the Copyright Act, 1957 Read More »
Copyright law is, at its core, a bargain. Society grants creators a bundle of exclusive rights over their works for a limited period, in exchange for the enrichment that creative expression brings to public life. But the bargain was never intended to be unconditional. An absolute monopoly over the use of a work would impede
Fair Dealing under Section 52 of the Copyright Act, 1957 – A Comprehensive Analysis Read More »
Delhi High Court | CS(OS) 1656/2005 | 17 September 2008 | S. Ravindra Bhat, J. Background The plaintiff, the University of Oxford – one of the world’s most recognized academic publishers – had been publishing educational books in India since 1912. In collaboration with the Jammu & Kashmir State Board of School Education and pursuant
Delhi High Court (Division Bench) | FAO(OS) 583/2011 & 584/2011 | 21 August 2012 | Pradeep Nandrajog & Manmohan Singh, JJ. Background Yashraj Films Pvt. Ltd., the respondent, held copyright in the sound recordings and cinematographic films of several commercially successful Bollywood productions, including Bunty Aur Babli, Nayak, Lagaan, Aks, Main Hoon Na, Salam Namaste,
India TV Independent News Service Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. v. Yashraj Films Pvt. Ltd. Read More »
The internet has fundamentally altered the economics and architecture of creative expression. Content that once required physical manufacture, distribution and retail can now be reproduced, transmitted and accessed globally within seconds, at virtually no cost. This transformation has been a gift to creators and audiences alike – but it has also made large scale copyright