Topical Highlight Issues in Sci-Hub Case ‘A Matter of Public Importance’ In this post, Swaraj highlighted some issues that came up during the hearing of the recent litigation, involving Elsevier, Wiley, and ACS suing Sci-Hub and LibGen for copyright infringement. He observed that it was a positive step for Justice Midha of the Delhi High Court to repeatedly point out that case was ‘a matter of public importance’, and he would not want to pass any orders without hearing the various…

Take Two!: Screenwriters Rights Association of India Applies for Registration as Copyright Society… Again

by Adyasha Samal January 10, 2021

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[This post has been co-authored with Varsha Jhavar.] Recently, the Screenwriters Rights Association of India (SRAI) filed a revised application before the Registrar of Copyrights to be recognised as a copyright society under Section 33 of the Copyright Act, 1957. SRAI aims to negotiate, collect and distribute royalties on behalf of screenwriters in works authored by them. It had previously applied for registration in 2017 as well, but the application disappeared for unknown reasons (see the discussion here). On 27 November…

The Inverse Ratio Rule: On Its Stairway to Heaven?

by SpicyIP January 7, 2021

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We’re pleased to bring to you a guest post by Prerna Sengupta and Riddhi Bang, critiquing the inverse ratio rule of copyright infringement and its application by Indian courts, in light of the US Supreme Court’s ruling in the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ copyright dispute last year. Prerna and Riddhi are 2nd year students at the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. Our previous posts relating to the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ case can be viewed here, here and here. The…

Issues in Sci-Hub Case ‘A Matter of Public Importance’

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 6, 2021

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In a great start to the Sci-Hub litigation (Elsevier, Wiley, and ACS vs Sci-Hub, LibGen – for background context, see the bottom of this post), Justice Midha at the Delhi High Court repeatedly pointed out that the issues in this case involved ‘a matter of public importance’, while saying he would not want to pass any orders in the law suit without hearing the various parties that wanted to get their views heard in the case, for the interim application…

Biological Diversity

National Biodiversity Authority Imposing Upfront Monetary Payment as Benefit Sharing for Research

by Adarsh Ramanujan January 5, 2021

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There has been a recent development in the context of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (‘BDA’), which I thought was interesting to share and discuss on the blog. Back in 2018, the Central Government issued the direction to the National Biodiversity Authority (‘NBA’) purportedly under Section 48 of the BDA. According to this office memorandum (followed by another) a kind of immunity deal was provided for persons who had committed any acts without the required approval from the authorities under…

Draft Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Proposes Major Changes to India’s Open Access Culture

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 4, 2021

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[This post has been co-authored with Praharsh Gour] On 2/01/2021, the Ministry of Science and Technology rolled out the draft version of the proposed Science, Technology and Innovation Policy. The process to have a new policy, subsequent to the 2013 one, was in the works since May 2020 (see here for our coverage of the same). And after a claimed 4 track process of consultations and “nearly 300 rounds of consultations with more than 40,000 stakeholders well distributed in terms…

The Sci-Hub Case: Why It is Time to Stop Favouring the Doctrinal Approach to Law over an Empirical One

by SpicyIP January 4, 2021

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The Sci-Hub/Libgen case continues to generate interest from researchers across the country. We’re pleased to bring you another guest post on this issue, this time one that showcases the results of a ‘mini survey’ on users of Sci-Hub, as well as highlights the lack of empirical evidence in these debates. This post is co-authored by Anshuman Sahoo and Aditi Shirpurkar. Anshuman is a 2nd year LL.M. student at Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur. He regularly writes…

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Interdigital v. Xiaomi: Confidential Information and Open Courts

by Anupriya Dhonchak January 4, 2021

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In this post on the recent Delhi High Court order in Interdigital v. Xiaomi, I highlight how the common practice of courts granting confidentiality in commercial litigation without much reasoning does not augur well for transparency, judicial accountability and the citizens’ right to be informed of Court processes and reasoning as part of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. The Public’s Right to Know The Delhi High Court’s order…

Patent Trade Secret

Interdigital v. Xiaomi: Relevance for Defendant’s Rights beyond SEP Litigation

by Anupriya Dhonchak January 4, 2021

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Recently, Nikhil covered InterDigital’s ongoing SEP (Standard Essential Patents) infringement dispute with Xiaomi, wherein a Confidentiality Club was proposed for sharing confidential documents to assess whether the licensing terms being offered by InterDigital were on FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) basis. The Delhi High Court in its recent order in the case rejected the plaintiff’s proposal to restrict access to certain confidential information from the defendant’s representatives, and to make it subject only to external eyes. In this post, I discuss the relevance…

SpicyIP Weekly Review (December 28 – January 3)

by Anupriya Dhonchak January 4, 2021

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Topical Highlight Sci-Hub and Libgen Up against Academic Publishers: A Death Knell for Access to Research? – Part I In this three-part post, Nikhil dissects the ongoing copyright litigation in the Delhi High Court by three big publishing houses, namely Elsevier, Wiley and ACM against the shadow libraries Libgen and Sci-Hub, alongwith the interpretive issues before the court. In Part I, he explains the background of the dispute and analyses the dynamic injunction plea sought by the plaintiffs. He argues that a thorough…

Jagdish Sagar { It is certainly necessary to configure, and for the Courts to interpret, the limitations and exceptions to copyright on the basis of empirical experience, and this may be... }
{ Has the tenure of Justice Manmohan Singh been extended post December 31st 2020? }
Jagdish Sagar { Surely a viable solution to this problem would be a statutory licence for users, with suitable guidelines to the IPAB regarding fixation of the fee. Such legislation would... }
Achille Forler { https://blogs.law.gwu.edu/mcir/ This is an invaluable resource about music copyright infringement cases from the mid-nineteenth century forward in the U.S. and, to an increasing extent, in foreign jurisdictions. }
Achille Forler { In the absence of a forensic musicologist, courts still largely rely on subjective impressions of audio similarity/dissimilarity (the extrinsic test or 'golden ear' analysis); see Cottrill v. Spears... }

De-Coding Indian Intellectual Property Law

SpicyIP Weekly Review (January 4 – 10)

Take Two!: Screenwriters Rights Association of India Applies for Registration as Copyright Society… Again

The Inverse Ratio Rule: On Its Stairway to Heaven?

Issues in Sci-Hub Case ‘A Matter of Public Importance’

National Biodiversity Authority Imposing Upfront Monetary Payment as Benefit Sharing for Research

Draft Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Proposes Major Changes to India’s Open Access Culture

The Sci-Hub Case: Why It is Time to Stop Favouring the Doctrinal Approach to Law over an Empirical One

Interdigital v. Xiaomi: Confidential Information and Open Courts

Interdigital v. Xiaomi: Relevance for Defendant’s Rights beyond SEP Litigation

SpicyIP Weekly Review (December 28 – January 3)

DIGITAL Fellowship 2021

Research Fellow/Associate Position & Ph.D. Program