Category Archives: Copyright

We’re pleased to bring to you a guest post by Swaroop Mamidipudi. Swaroop is an advocate practicing in copyright law at the Madras High Court. He has guest blogged for us in the past as well (see here and here). Section 31D of the Copyright Act Does Not Cover Internet Broadcasting Swaroop Mamidipudi The Spotify litigation (covered here) centres around the question that has been simmering around the Indian copyright scene for some time – does the statutory licensing regime…

Breaking: The Background Music to Spotify’s India Launch is a Crucial Legal Battle on Music Copyright

by Divij Joshi February 28, 2019

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It’s the one we’ve all been waiting for. Spotify, the Swedish music-streaming service, finally launched in India after months of speculation as to when and how the service would reach Indian consumers. Yet, an as yet unknown number of works in Spotify’s catalogue are in a precarious position, and could at any moment be pulled from the service. While we enjoy tunes from the world’s largest online streaming service, the background music to the launch is an intense legal battle…

Update: European Union Agrees on Copyright Directive Text, ‘Upload Filters’ and ‘Link Tax’ Closer to Becoming Internet Norms

by Divij Joshi February 17, 2019

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In a major development in the European Union with repercussions for the internet at large, the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission on February 13, 2019, agreed upon the final text of the new EU Copyright Directive. While the text of the new rules has not yet been released, and they are yet to be officially confirmed by the parliament and council, a press release by the European Commission stated that a political agreement was…

Supreme Court on TRAI’s Regulatory Powers (Part 2)

by Rishabh Mohnot February 17, 2019

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In my previous post, I had discussed the first issue that was discussed in Star India v DIPP, regarding the regulation of content by the impugned provisions. In this post, I will discuss the second issue concerning TRAI’s power to regulate content in light of potential conflicts with the Copyright Act, and discuss some relevant observations made by the court. Issue 2: Does TRAI have the power to regulate content? The determination of TRAI’s power to regulate content rested on…

SaReGaMa Pa-rdon Me, You Have the Wrong Address: On the Perils and Pitfalls of Notice and Takedown

by Divij Joshi February 12, 2019

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The universe surely has a strange sense of humour. Imagine our surprise when we received a notice from Google Inc., that they had de-indexed one of blogs after a complaint was filed against it by Saregama India Pvt. Ltd. On December 13, 2018, Google informed us that: “Google has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that some of the material found on your site allegedly infringes upon the copyrights of others. Although some…

Supreme Court on TRAI’s Regulatory Powers (Part 1)

by Rishabh Mohnot February 3, 2019

Draft Intermediary Guidelines Rules will Undermine Fair Dealing and Access to Knowledge Online

by Divij Joshi January 31, 2019

1 Comment

The Ministry of Information Technology has released a draft of proposed changes to the Intermediary Guidelines Rules, 2011, made under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act”). Section 79 provides that certain categories of intermediaries which merely host third party content shall not be liable for such third-party content, provided that certain conditions are complied with, which is known as a ‘safe harbour’. Compliance with the Intermediary Guidelines Rules drafted under Section 79 is a pre-requisite to…

IPRS Rejoins Cisac After a Two Year Hiatus

by Rishabh Mohnot January 18, 2019

1 Comment

The Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) has been readmitted to International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (Cisac) as an associate member, after spending two years in exile. The readmission comes after a string of reforms carried out within IPRS, that that bring it in compliance with Cisac rules and best practices. Cisac is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation, and is the world’s leading network of authors’ societies, with 239 members in 122 countries. It represents more than four million…

Does Sui Generis Protection of Unoriginal Databases Reconcile Access and Incentive to Actualise Public Good?

by Pankhuri Agarwal January 13, 2019

De-Coding Indian Intellectual Property Law

Category Archives: Copyright

Draft E-Commerce Policy Extends India’s Intermediary Liability Woes

Section 31D of the Copyright Act Does Not Cover Internet Broadcasting

Breaking: The Background Music to Spotify’s India Launch is a Crucial Legal Battle on Music Copyright

Update: European Union Agrees on Copyright Directive Text, ‘Upload Filters’ and ‘Link Tax’ Closer to Becoming Internet Norms

Supreme Court on TRAI’s Regulatory Powers (Part 2)

SaReGaMa Pa-rdon Me, You Have the Wrong Address: On the Perils and Pitfalls of Notice and Takedown

Supreme Court on TRAI’s Regulatory Powers (Part 1)

Draft Intermediary Guidelines Rules will Undermine Fair Dealing and Access to Knowledge Online

IPRS Rejoins Cisac After a Two Year Hiatus

Does Sui Generis Protection of Unoriginal Databases Reconcile Access and Incentive to Actualise Public Good?