Delhi High Court remarks that functioning of Meta is worse than an Indian government department The Bench, headed by the Acting Chief Justice of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court, in a plea filed by TV Today, opined that the functioning of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram is worse than a government department. The plea has been filed against the blocking of the Instagram page of TV Today’s Harper’s Bazaar India. Meta was further asked by the Bench to ‘put its house in order.’ Rajnikanth’s ‘Coolie’ team received a copyright notice from Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja has issued ..read more

  (This post is co-authored with Sneha Jain, Partner, Saikrishna & Associates) The scope of copyright liability of Generative AI (‘genAI’) models is a hot topic globally. Copyright issues that stem out of genAI technology can be categorized into four heads. All the litigations in the United States form a part of one of these four heads:   Allegation of copyright Infringement due to copying/storage of copyrighted works as data sets for the purpose of training models; Allegation of copyright Infringement due to substantial similarity of the output produced, as well as the output p ..read more

Supreme Court holds that trailers of movie are not a promise or offer in the Yash Raj’s consumer dispute over Jabra Fan In the appeal filed by Yash Raj Films (YRF) against the order passed by National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) imposing penalty of Rs. 10,000, the Supreme Court, setting aside the NCDRC’s order, held that promotional trailers do not qualify as offers eliciting acceptance. The appeal was filed when NCDRC imposed the penalty on YRF for excluding the song ‘Jabra Fan’ from its 2016’s Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘Fan’. The complaint was filed by Afreen Fatima, claiming ..read more

What would you, as a film producer do, if someone came to you and said “I saw something in your movie trailer, but I did not see it in the movie. Pay me 60k for my agony.” It sounds absurd but that is exactly what happened in this Supreme Court case of Yash Raj Films Private Limited V. Afreen Fatima Zaidi & Anr.[i] The Court, however, clarified that promotional trailers do constitute enforceable agreements, and therefore the song shown in the trailer, but not included in the movie, would not be, either, deficiency of service, or an unfair trade practice. Facts The complainant decided to wa ..read more

The clarification given in Novex Communications Pvt Ltd. v. Trade Wings Hotels Limited,[i] that owners of sound recordings can issue licenses without registering as a copyright society, is significant as it has created a lot of momentum in the music licensing space in India. Various entities, engaged in the business of music licensing, came forward to seek clarifications, and started acting upon the same. One example was seen a few days ago. Recently, on 3rd April, a letter in the form of a public notice, was issued by an entity called ‘Audio Royalties’ to inform various music industry stakeho ..read more

Mumbai Court refuses to stay release of Hindi film Maidaan A Mumbai court on April 8, refused to grant a stay on the release of Ajay Devgn starter Maidaan after a vendor approached the court due to alleged outstanding dues. Camera vendor, Meherafrin Investments Private Limited (MIPL), had approached the Mumbai City Civil Court at Dindoshi for a commercial suit against the producers, Byaview Projects LLP and Boney Kapoor. According to MIPL’s claims, the production company Byaview Projects LLP and producer Boney Kapoor failed to fulfil their financial obligations, despite assurances th ..read more

If you listen to this song, it is easy to think that the song was made by Drake, but the truth is it wasn’t. That, was an AI generated song, uploaded a few months ago, and has since raised some important questions. How can we prevent AI from using Artist voices without their permission? This was attempted to be addressed on March 21, 2024 by Tennessee State (in the United States). The state has enacted a new law, titled the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act of 2024 (“Elvis Act”). The Elvis Act replaces the Personal Rights Protection Act of 1984 (“Personal Rights Act”). The Persona ..read more

TV Today moves Delhi High Court challenging provision of the IT Rules, 2021 After a third party complaint alleging copyright infringement led to the blocking of the media network’s publication Harper’s Bazaar India’s Instagram account, TV Today Network Limited filed an application before the Delhi High Court. Rule 3 (1) (c) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules) has been challenged by the media corporation in their petition. Read order here. Delhi High Court declares ‘Haldiram’ as a well-known trademark On April 3, the Delhi ..read more

Recently, the Supreme Court of India, stayed the Fact Check Unit notification issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on March 20, 2024. The bench of Hon’ble Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra held that the stay shall operate till the Bombay High Court finally decides the challenges to the IT Rules amendment 2023. This comes after the MeitY had notified the Press Information Bureau as the Fact Check Unit on 20th March, 2024. The notification of 20th March, 2024 was occasioned after the third judge Justice Chandurkar hear ..read more

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) recently on 15th March 2024 introduced guidelines aimed at enhancing accessibility standards for persons with hearing and visual impairments in the public exhibition of feature films in cinema theatres. Read Guidelines here. The guidelines seek to ensure that everyone can partake in the cinematic experience. These standards, developed after extensive consultations with various stakeholders, mark a significant step forward in fostering inclusivity in society. They have included the requirements of various methods and tools for promoting acces ..read more