Public Domain Day 2026: What the Entry of Classic Works means for Copyright Law and Creative Freedom

/ By / Copyright

Public Domain Day (January 1st) offers a moment to reflect on the true purpose of copyright law release, not perpetual control. Discussing the importance of this momentous day, Sminal Badge examines India’s neglected public domain, tracing how institutional gaps and private gatekeeping undermine access, creativity, education, and emerging AI innovation, and why treating the public domain as a functional legal resource is now imperative. Sminal is a 4th Year Student from Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai. He has a keen […]

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Bata v. Leayan: Examining the Interplay of Sections 17 and 35 of the Trade Marks Act 

/ By / Trademark

The Delhi High Court’s decision in Leayan Global Pvt. Ltd. v. Bata India Ltd. turns on the uneasy interaction between exclusive trademark rights and descriptive use defences. Arshiya Gupta probes the Court’s see-saw framing of Sections 17 and 35, and asks whether collapsing these distinct enquiries risks blurring core principles of trademark doctrine. Arshiya is a third-year law student at National Law University, Delhi, with a keen inclination towards PIL, IPR, and criminal law. Bata v. Leayan: Examining the Interplay

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Tariff-Secrecy Double Bind: How Global Trade Rules Undermine Pharmaceutical Access In The Global South

/ By / Data Exclusivity, Others

Examining the growing structural gap between TRIPS’ public-health objectives and the contemporary political economy of pharmaceuticals, Tanya Verma in her entry for the SpicyIP-jhana Blogpost Writing Competition, argues that tariff regimes and expanding trade-secret protections together create a “double bind” that constrains the Global South’s ability to both import and manufacture medicines. Tanya is a fifth year student at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow. Tariff-Secrecy Double Bind: How Global Trade Rules Undermine Pharmaceutical Access In The Global

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When Stature Becomes Substance: Judicial Deference and Moral Rights in the Ilaiyaraaja Injunction

/ By / Copyright

The bigger the stardom, the likelier an injunction. Discussing the role of stardom, fame, and eminence in moral rights jurisprudence and adjudication, Arshiya Gupta argues that fame and stature are good indicators of how seriously Courts treat your moral right claims, thus implicitly creating a hierarchy of claims. Arshiya is a third-year law student at National Law University, Delhi, with a keen inclination towards PIL, IPR, and criminal law. Image from here When Stature Becomes Substance: Judicial Deference and Moral

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When General Powers Swallow Special Design: A Critique of Surinder Kumar Case of the DHC

/ By / Others

Did the Delhi High Court compromise on doctrine while maximising outcome? Discussing some knotty procedural law, Arshiya Gupta examines DHC’s decision in Shri Surinder Kumar v. Registrar of Copyrights and argues how it collapses a carefully designed special procedural regime in favour of general transfer powers. Arshiya is a third-year law student at National Law University, Delhi, with a keen inclination towards PIL, IPR, and criminal law. When General Powers Swallow Special Design: A Critique of Surinder Kumar Case of the

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SpicyIP Bells & Whistles: IP Events and Opportunities (05.01.2026)

/ By / Courses & Workshops, Opportunities

Welcome to the first Bells & Whistles newsletter of 2026! As we ease into the new year, a quick reminder that this is also the time when SpicyIP looks back before moving forward. Every year, we put together an Annual Review capturing the most significant IP developments, and the 2025 review is now out. It brings together some of the most important judicial decisions, policy shifts, and regulatory conversations from the past year. It’s worth a slow read or a deeper dive, perfect

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (December 29 – January 4)

/ By / Copyright, Others, Patent, Trademark

Starting 2026 with India’s top IP developments of 2025! 3 new posts for our readers, criticising the DPIIT AI-Copyright Working Paper. A post on the SHANTI Act, the possibility of getting patents for peaceful uses of nuclear energy. This and much more in this week’s SpicyIP Weekly Review. Anything we are missing out on? Drop a comment below to let us know. Highlights of the Week A Look Back at India’s Top IP Developments of 2025  What a year it

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[SpicyIP Tidbit] TellyTorrents Movie Piracy Case—A Tale of Evidence Missing in Action

/ By / Copyright

Last month, the TorrentFreak team (by the way, a great source for copyright and piracy news reporting!) reached out to us regarding a criminal copyright decision in State of M.P. v. Priyank & Ors. from Judicial Magistrate of First Class(JMFC), Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh). A big thanks to them for bringing this acquittal decision to our attention which seems to have missed all radars in India. The case had been going on for a decade and involved the popular torrent site

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One Nation, Forced Licenses, Multiple Payments: (Un)Balancing AI Innovation & Copyright

/ By / Copyright

Adding to the steady stream of critiques on the DPIIT Working Paper on the interface of Copyright and AI, my post focuses on the proposed statutory recommendations, specifically, on how the proposal seeks to create new legal rights with no analysis of the corresponding duties and liabilities that will be triggered. In February, 2024 the Ministry of Commerce & Industry was sure that the existing IPR regime was well-equipped to protect AI generated works. Generative AI (GenAI) developers would need

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Copyright Maximalism by Design? Rethinking DPIIT’s Licensing Centric Approach to AI Training

/ By / Copyright

Critiquing Part – I of the DPIIT committee working paper on the “intersection between Artificial Intelligence and Copyright” for copyright maximalism, Vishno Sudheendra discusses, in this entry for the SpicyIP–jhana Blogpost Writing Competition, the viability of a fair sharing arrangement as a solution to the structural and diffuse impact of GenAI on the creative industries. He strongly argues that the solutions for structural problems posed by GenAI do not lie in copyright law but outside of it. Vishno is also

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