Written by Sankalp Mirani. The author is a law student pursing BA.LLB degree from Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai.
“Copyright is infringed if the material or a substantial part of it is be used without the permission of the real owner”
Concept
Copyright, being one of the important Intellectual property rights (IPR), protects the rights of creators of artistic works, literary works, sound, films and related creations. This right provides the creator the authority over the creation of his or her own to explore benefits if used by others. Media platforms including social media use new ideas, images, sounds, scripts and many more means and methods of communication for professional, commercial and personal purposes. The entertainment industry faces the most genuine and gravest of difficulties presented by piracy. While unapproved copying and dissemination of cinematograph movies and music is not a new thing but a new turn of events, the greatness of the issue has, in the new years, gained extents that undermine the presence of the whole business. Advancements in replication and innovation have made it a moderately straightforward matter, for even a beginner, to produce duplicates, which are of a tantamount norm with the duplicates being honestly made and advertised by the business. Piracy, inter alia, results in loss of revenue to owners of copyrights through royalties, illegally adds to the coffers of the pirate and defrauds the state of collectible cess through various levels of production and sale. Without mitigating the importance of the said consequences, it is the music/film industry that is the most seriously prejudiced. This article discusses issues regarding copyright in entertainment media and piracy and also law regarding the same in India.
Introduction
For a very long time, the media and entertainment sector in India was unstructured and largely dependent on personal connections. Agreements and understandings between parties weren't always verbose, and most contracts simply gave a general indication of what was understood and didn't always go into great detail about the type of rights being awarded or the variety of possible ways they could be used. The entertainment industry was officially recognized as a industry by the Indian government in 1998, which led to a gradual shift in emphasis toward the proper documentation and execution of contracts between the parties for the assignment of copyrights in works that were being created as well as the scope of such assignments. Parties are now concentrating on the correct execution and documentation of assigned rights as a result of the periodic modifications to the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 ("Act") and the increase in lawsuits pertaining to ownership and exploitation of copyright in works, notably cinematograph films. The purchase of rights for older or classic Indian films is, however, frequently a difficult undertaking hampered by an incorrect or incomplete chain of title in copyright ownership over such films. There are situations when the assignment's nature is uncertain, its boundaries are not clearly defined, or there may be several conflicting rights generated in favor of several assignees.
The Significance of Copyright
Unauthorized use of another person's work that is protected by a copyright is known as copyright infringement. Without the owner of the material or the copyright, it is the use of material that is often protected by copyright. It typically indicates that someone is violating a copyright holder's right to exclusive use of a product or piece of content without their consent. The entertainment sector, which includes the film and music industries, is most affected by copyright violations. If the content, or a sizable portion of it, can be used without the owner's consent, copyright has been violated. In general, it refers to the theft or violation of someone else's intellectual property (IP). The term "copyright infringement" can also refer to the theft of the creator's original work and any resulting financial gain. The copyright violation is described in “Section 51 of the Copyright Act.”
Interpretation of Copyright Infringement by Indian Courts
Raj Video Visions v. K Mohana Krishnan is one of the early cases that called attention to the extent of an assignment in a cinematograph film by a producer ("Raj Video Visions case"). In 1961, the Tamil film "Pasamalar" producer ("Producer") handed all of the film's cinematographic rights to one of the defendants, with the exception of the rights for the Hindi version ("First Assignee"). The Producer further granted the Plaintiff ("Plaintiff") the "Video Rights" to the film for showing, distribution, printing, copying, and lending of master cassettes in or around 1988. In order to prevent the First Assignee from using the Video Rights, the Plaintiff filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement.
According to the First Assignee, they been granted complete and perpetual copyright for the movie "Pasamalar," which includes the right to assign the video rights; as a result, the plaintiff's rights weren't violated. The Hon'ble Bombay High Court examined the assignment agreements the Producer had signed and came to the conclusion that since the Producer had no knowledge of Video Rights" in 1961, which would later exist as a result of technological advancements, it was impossible to claim that the Producer had assigned them to the First Assignee. The First Assignee's decision to broadcast the movie would constitute a violation of the Plaintiff's rights because the Plaintiff was the legitimate assignee of the copyright in the Video Rights. Due to this ruling, assignment agreements now include provisions to guarantee that the assignee is endowed with the rights to any future developments in copyright exploitation methods for the work. The Copyrights Act now expressly states that unless it is specifically mentioned in the assignment, a mode or medium of exploitation that did not exist or was not being used commercially as of the date of the assignment will not be covered by a work-related assignment.
The Apex court in R.G. Anand v. M/s Deluxe Films (1978) expressed the following opinions about copyright infringement:
Infringement of the copyright in such circumstances is restricted to the expression and arrangement utilized by the creator of the copyrighted work, and one cannot assert copyright on an idea, subject, storyline, theme, or historical facts.
It is presumed that the source is common and that it is quite feasible to occur when the same concept might be developed in a different way.
Damages for infringement must be sought, as well as proof that the defendant violated copyright laws and the theft was serious and material.
If both works are undeniably of the opinion that the latter work appears to be a “pirate of the original one, then it may be a case of copyright infringement.
Where the concept of the work looks to be the same but is represented differently and constitutes a new work, there is no problem of copyright infringement.
If it is established that the similarities between the two works are coincidental and not intentional, the issue of copyright infringement won't come up.
According to the Hon. Bombay High Court, the Plaintiff's suit must be successful based on its own documents of title in order for it to be successful. The Court examined the details of each of the various assignment deeds, which revealed several gaps in the plaintiff's alleged chain of ownership. First, the Court noted that the First Agreement's length was set at a maximum of 27 years and that the language employed made it clear that it was just a agreement to assign rather than a assignment. Additionally, “the First Agreement did not contain a transfer of satellite rights because it stated that these rights did not become vested in another corporation until 2003.
The Court further pointed out that the Second The Court further remarked that there was no mention of the First Agreement in the Chain of Title in the Second Agreement, which raised more questions about whether the First Agreement had ever come into force or even been considered as an assignment by the Producers. To further complicate matters, the producer filed an affidavit in which he claimed that I pursuant to the Second Agreement, he had assigned all satellite and electronic media rights in the movie Sheela to Swastik Distributors and that (ii) pursuant to the Third Agreement, he had assigned the negative rights, lock stock and barrel to Mr. Sharma, including satellite rights. The Third Agreement and the Second Agreement both granted assignees rights that overlapped for a period of time, according to the Court. Finally, the Swastik Agreement made clear that its rights and timescales conflicted with those of the Third Agreement. As a result, the Plaintiff's acquisition of Swastik's rights did not seem to, on the surface, to perfect the Plaintiff's title.
The Plaintiff relied on numerous contradictory documents to support its claim to ownership, whilst the Defendant relied solely on the Sabharwal Assignment to assert its right to all of the producer's rights in exchange for a sizable sum of money. The Court noted that proof of ownership of the rights asserted “by the Plaintiff would be required. at trial and that there was no compelling evidence to support a case. The Court therefore declined to enjoin the Defendant from using its rights in the movie "Sheela" for commercial purposes and instead assessed the Plaintiff costs of INR 5.9 lakh.
Copyright Laws impacting Media
The entertainment and media industries utilize copyright as a strategy to safeguard their original works over time so that nobody can access them without their consent. The owner of the material has the sole right to use it, and it is copyright protected. The entertainment sector is currently experiencing intense rivalry, making it essential to get the copyright to the original work. The author or creator may incur significant damages as a result of the lack of copyright on the work. Due to the need to safeguard and prevent the original work of the artist, copyright has a significant impact on the media and entertainment industries. In the current situation, the development of technology causes a rise in the theft of original works, which causes loss to the owner. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent copyright infringement in order to prevent access to the owner's original work without that owner's consent or authority. Therefore, in the entertainment industry, the proprietor must hold sole ownership of the work or material.
International Perspective
In terms of content creation and technology, the media and entertainment sector in India has grown. The protection of the owner's rights in terms of his content and against copyright infringement depends on the legislation of intellectual property rights in India. Since they prohibit and protect the original work of the creator and guarantee the dissemination of legitimate material, IP rights play an important role in society. The media and entertainment sector is the one with the fastest rate of growth in the globe and is expected to generate over INR 2.35 trillion ($33.6 billion) in revenue in India by 2021.
The global employment rate has been significantly boosted by the media and entertainment sector. The Copyright Act governs copyright in the United States. The global employment rate has been significantly boosted by the media and entertainment sector. The Copyright Act of 1976 governs copyright in the United States. The rights of owners against copyright infringement are protected by a number of international treaties and agreements. These agreements are typically seen as a form of global copyright piracy protection. One of the most significant agreements to combat copyright violations is the Berne Convention for the prevention and preservation of artistic works. The Berne Convention is ratified by nearly all nations. As a result, there are several treaties and conventions to safeguard original owners' rights from copyright infringement in the global entertainment and media sector.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the purpose of copyright laws is to defend the author's creative work and to get financial benefit form the same. The expansion of artistic freedom depends on the expansion of intellectual property rights in the entertainment industry .The entertainment sector needs to be shielded against immoral behavior, which is growing alarmingly in society day by day. Therefore, emphasis should be placed on how copyright rules are implemented in the entertainment sector effectively and efficiently. The current copyright laws must be scrupulously and impartially observed. Criminal penalties for digital piracy should be implemented since they are an efficient approach to stop these behaviors. India has to increase public awareness of its copyright regulations and enforce them more strictly. To combat the threat posed by piracy, the entertainment sector must take certain preventative actions. India needs to increase public awareness of copyright rules and reinforce the existing copyright regime.
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