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Part II: From the Archives: When Oxford Sent a Letter to Amend the Indian Copyright Law in 1901

/ By / Others

Salam, In the previous post, I discussed the Oxford letter, which was itself merely a response to an increasingly contentious issue: translation. Here, I turn to the broader context of nineteenth-century Indian copyright law and revisit two landmark decisions that left British publishers deeply dissatisfied, prompting a letter in response. Translation as Troublemaker for Publishers Now comes the main thing: translation. Printing arguably entered India in the sixteenth century, on September 6, 1556, by something of a happy accident, when […]

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Oxford, Clarendon Building

Part I: From the Archives: When Oxford Sent a Letter to Amend the Indian Copyright Law in 1901 

/ By / Copyright, Others

Namaskar, It is easy—and intuitive too—to suppose that Indian copyright law was nothing but British law imposed upon India. Plausible though the assumption may appear, the reality was more meandering and infinitely more intriguing. The deeper one delves, the clearer it becomes how confounding the history of Indian copyright is and how much of its buried past still awaits excavation. In this post, I untangle one of its many threads. A few months ago, while rummaging through the archives at

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A Brief History of the Official Language(s) of International Copyright Law

/ By / Copyright, Others

Bonjour. Today, I want to talk about something French. No, not wine. Not even cheese. But the French language, and my hobbyhorse: international copyright law. Here’s the story of why the beating heart of the Berne Convention still pulsates in French. As Article 37 of the Convention clarifies, while the Convention is drafted in both French and English, in the event of divergence, the French text prevails. Every time I glide through the Berne archives in French, I’m reminded: this

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (May 18 – May 24)

/ By / Copyright, Others, Patent, Trademark

Entering the last week of May with a post tracing Indian copyright doctrine and what exactly does it protect. Post on the Delhi HC’s ruling in Bansal v. Philips, a consequential SEP/FRAND decision. And a post on the expanding and increasingly amorphous scope of personality rights in India, most recently in the case of Aniruddhacharya Ji Maharaj. Case summaries and IP developments from the country and the globe and much more in this week’s SpicyIP Weekly Review. Anything we are

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A Personality Too Spiritual for Satire?

/ By / Copyright, Others, Overlaps in IP, Privacy, Trademark

I had underestimated how much of the personality rights space in India is one big, vague, wild west! The personality rights order passed by the Delhi High Court in favour of the plaintiff, Anil Kumar Tiwari (aka Aniruddhacharya Ji Maharaj) shows what happens when an already confusing jurisprudence continues to develop without guardrails: IP law protections are claimed for ineligible content; social commentary based on meme-culture collides with ambiguous private rights; and, doctrinal confusion continues to blur the scope of

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (May 11 – May 17)

/ By / Others

With great sorrow we share the news of the passing of Mr. Nataraj G, founder of LCGN Advocates – a post on his life and work. Marking Prof. Shamnad Basheer’s 50th birthday, a post revisiting his last recorded interview and also announcing three new initiatives! A post on the continuing Section 3(k) saga, Yogesh Byadwal writes on the frameworks within which the Courts are working while deciding objections u/s. 3(k). Case summaries and IP developments from the country and the

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Remembering Mr. Guruswamy “Nutty” Nataraj (1970-2026)

/ By / Others

[This post is co-authored by Swaraj and Praharsh] It’s with great sorrow that we share the news that the Indian IP fraternity lost one of its brightest stars yesterday. Mr. Guruswamy Nataraj, founder of LCGN Advocates and alumnus of NLSIU (1988-1993), renowned for his formidable patent law practice, sharp wit, infectious smile, and warm sense of humour, passed away following a heart attack, after a courageous battle with cancer over the last few months.  Mr. Nataraj (affectionately called “Nutty” by

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Shamnad at 50: Still Lighting the Way

/ By / Others

About 7 and a half years ago, Shamnad had gone to Iran, as a guest lecturer in a workshop organised by their National IP Training Centre in collaboration with WIPO. There, he would also give what may have been his last recorded interview. And perhaps because the website was not in English, nor was the video uploaded directly to youtube, it appears very few people have had the pleasure of listening to it! Candid and free-flowing, (including, of course, discussions

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Another brick in the wall for the Continuing Rights of Authors

/ By / Copyright, Others

In another articulation of the clear intent and purpose behind the copyright amendments that were brought in 2012, to economically enable intended beneficiaries of the copyright regime, i.e. the authors of the underlying works, the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court has reaffirmed that irrespective of the musical and the literary works being embedded in a sound recording, at every exploitation of the said sound recording by a user, de hors it being show along with the film it

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SpicyIP Bells & Whistles: IP Events and Opportunities (11.05.2026)

/ By / Courses & Workshops, Others

Welcome back to another week of Bells & Whistles. As always, we’ve rounded up a mix of developments, opportunities, and thoughtful reads from across the IP world along with a Bell of the Week that’s well worth revisiting. Bell of the Week: The UDRP Some bells do not just chime, they emerge with entirely new spaces. This week’s bell is for the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, a mechanism that reshaped how trademark disputes are handled in the digital world.

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