Divij Joshi

Divij Joshi is a lawyer and general-purpose enthusiast. In his alter-ego, he regularly saves the world by using technology for the greater good, until he wakes up.

Copyright

IP Protection for the Manganiyar’s Seduction? Throwing Some Light on Copyright in Stage Directions

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Anand and Anand report that a dispute involving claims of the infringement of copyright and passing off of Roysten Abel’s awe-inspiring stage production of Manganiyar folk musicians from Rajasthan, the Manganiyar Seduction, has recently been settled without a ruling on the merits of the dispute. The distinctive and extraordinary production by Abel combines the dramatic flair of a theatre production with the enchantment of a live folk music concert, which relies upon the harmonisation of the 43 musicians seated inside…


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Copyright

Screenwriters Association of India Applies for Registration as a Copyright Society

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The Copyright Office in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has recently issued a public notice stating that the Screenwriters Rights Association of India (“SRAI”) has applied to the Registrar of Copyrights for registration as a copyright society under Section 33 of the Copyright Act, 1957. The public notice and the application by the SRAI are available here. Public comments including suggestions or objections to the application may be addressed to the Copyright Office by September 28, 2017. From the application…


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SpicyIP Weekly Review (August 13-19)

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This week started with Prashant’s post about the numerous judgements of the Delhi High Court which have continued to apply the overruled judgement in Time Incorporated v. Lokesh Srivastava, relating to the grant of punitive damages in IPR cases. The cases show a disturbing misstep in the court’s refusing to follow the rule of stare decisis on the binding nature of the judgements of larger benches of the court. The next post was Harshvardhan’s exposition on trademark bullying, in the context of the dispute between eBay…


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Copyright

Madras High Court Issues ‘Ashok Kumar’ Order to Block the Internet Archive + 2649 Websites

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  In yet another instance of overbroad and disproportionate online censorship, 2650 entire websites have been ordered by the Madras High Court to be blocked, nation-wide, as an interim measure against the infringement of copyright of certain films. The Madras HC, on July 21, 2017 and August 2, 2017, ordered an interim injunction against several Internet Service Providers (ISPs), in a case of copyright infringement, directing the ISPs to disable access to websites upon the plaintiff’s request, including, perplexingly, the…


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Others Overlaps in IP Trademark

Update: Google Seeks US Court’s Intervention on Canadian SC’s Global Injunction

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In July, I had written about the decision of the Canadian Supreme Court in Google v Equustek, to issue an interlocutory injunction against Google Inc. in Canada, and directing Google to enforce the decision in every jurisdiction in which it operates. I had argued that the decision would throw issues of Internet jurisdiction, which are largely based on judicial comity, into a tailspin. Further, I had argued that the decision creates a dangerous precedent of allowing courts or laws in one jurisdiction to…


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SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 16 – 30)

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 16 – 22) Divij Joshi The first thematic highlight for this week was Harshvardhan’s exploration of the ‘goodness’ of trademarks, in his two–part post. Harshvardhan highlights the cultural role of trademarks and explores how the law treats trademarks not merely as an indicator of goods, but also of ‘goodness’, sometimes by seeking to restrict immoral or pejorative trademarks. Harshvardhan builds the argument that a trademark must be based on something more than distinctiveness, and it must satisfy a…


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Copyright Innovation

Driving Them Up The (Pay)Wall – Sci-Hub and the Disruption of the Academic Publishing Industry

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Elsevier, one of the world’s largest publishing houses, has quite a hallowed history. Founded in 1880, it has today transformed itself from a small Dutch publisher of classical scholarship into a multi-billion dollar enterprise, controlling access to over 2,000 scientific and research journals and with some of the highest profits among any industry. Sci-Hub, a free, online, tool, has an admittedly humbler past. Started in 2011 by Kazakh student Alexandra Elbakyan, the project has no significant financial backing, its management is virtually…


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Patent

Patent Office Now Issues Bilingual First Examination Reports of Applications and Automates Processes for Issuing Patent Certificates

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  The Indian Patent Office has made some interesting procedural changes recently. In a first, it appears that the Indian Patent Office is now issuing official communication bilingually in both English and Hindi. A public post by the Joint Controller of Patents and Designs at the IPO captures one such bilingual First Examination Report (which is the report issued to patent applicants in response to a request for examination). This move could be a result of the larger policy objective of promoting Hindi as…


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Others Trademark

Canada Throws a Google-y at Judicial Comity on the Internet, issues ‘Global’ Injunction

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The Supreme Court of Canada, in its decision in Google v Equustek, on June 28, 2017, issued an injunction against Google and ordering it to operate in every jurisdiction in which Google operates, effectively making it a global injunction. The decision of the Supreme Court follows a growing trend in various jurisdictions of requiring intermediaries to give global effect to jurisdiction-specific laws. Case History and Background The case involved a suit for passing off, misappropriation of trade secrets and online…


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Trademark

Matal v Tam and the Question of Free Speech and Trademarks – Part II

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In Part I of this post, I reported on the US Supreme Court’s groundbreaking judgement in Matal v Tam, which held that trademarks qualify for the protection of speech under the first amendment of the constitution of the US, and consequently, a provision of law which refused registration based on the fact that such trademarks may be disparaging to certain individuals or groups, was struck down. This post examines the issues in Matal, on the relationship between trademark law and…


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