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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Right-To-Education Responsibilities Of Book Publishing Companies, Emmanuel Kolawole Oke
The Right-To-Education Responsibilities Of Book Publishing Companies, Emmanuel Kolawole Oke
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
The responsibilities of copyright owners, specifically book publishers, should be construed from a human rights perspective. Building on the work of John Ruggie and his ‘Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,’ this paper contends that book publishers have a responsibility to respect human rights including the right to education. As it relates to copyright law, respecting the right to education entails respecting the measures that countries have incorporated into their national copyright laws to facilitate access to learning materials. Furthermore, corporate actors that own copyright in learning materials should not use litigation or the threat of litigation to try …
The Proposed Treaty For The Protection Of Broadcasting Organizations: Old Wine In A New Bottle?, Nehaa Chaudhari, Amulya Purshothama
The Proposed Treaty For The Protection Of Broadcasting Organizations: Old Wine In A New Bottle?, Nehaa Chaudhari, Amulya Purshothama
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
This article analyses the proposed WIPO Treaty for Protection of Broadcasting Organizations (“Broadcast Treaty”) and argues that (a) The need for the Broadcast Treaty has not been fully established and b) even if there were such a need for the Broadcast Treaty (purportedly to help counter signal piracy), the proposed draft of the treaty deviates from this approach towards a ‘rights-based’ approach, creating a ‘paracopyright’ regime, potentially creating chilling effects on legitimate end uses of copyrightable material.
Fair Dealing Of Computer Programs In India, Rahul Matthan, Nikhil Narendran
Fair Dealing Of Computer Programs In India, Rahul Matthan, Nikhil Narendran
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
This essay analyses the amendments to the Copyright Act introduced in 1994 that dealt with fair dealing provisions for computer programs. The authors identify fair dealing as a user right rather than a defense right on the basis of judicial decisions on the point. They discuss the statutory exceptions to copyright for the purposes for which the program was supplied and to achieve inter-operability of a program. The authors also discuss the restrictions upon such fair dealing provisions, such as their accrual only to the lawful possessor of the program and their use solely for the purpose of achieving the …
Beyond Copyright: Possible Solutions To An Internet Governance Regime, Meera Jayakumar, Hemangini Dadwal
Beyond Copyright: Possible Solutions To An Internet Governance Regime, Meera Jayakumar, Hemangini Dadwal
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
There has been much debate over the general proposal that IP law should be re-designed to suit the climate of cyberspace.However, in this paper, we propose that the very premise of IP law in general, and copyright in particular, as it stands on its own, is redundant for the regulation of the internet. Consequently, we propose two regulatory solutions that can complement the present copyright law regime through improved control over access to data spread over the internet, viz., the Creative Commons approach and the Tier Model for internet regulation.
Of Square Pegs And Round Holes: Towards A New Paradigm Of Database Protection, Deepu Jacob, Prasan Dhar
Of Square Pegs And Round Holes: Towards A New Paradigm Of Database Protection, Deepu Jacob, Prasan Dhar
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
This article looks at the question of the applicability of copyright law to the protection of databases. It features a detailed discussion of the EU Database Directive, which is the only comparable legal framework for the protection of databases. It then discusses some problems that the EU Directive encounters vis-à-vis public interest concerns, and outline why the EU Directive is unable to strike the right balance, both in principle and in practice. Next, it briefly studies database protection law as it exists in the United States, Australia, Canada and finally India, following which the need for protection of databases in …
Oxford University V. Rameshwari Photocopy Services - Reshaping The Copyright Discourse, Kartik Chawla
Oxford University V. Rameshwari Photocopy Services - Reshaping The Copyright Discourse, Kartik Chawla
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
This essay analyses the judgment of the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court in the case of University of Oxford v. Rameshwari Photocopy Services3 from the perspective of fair use and the public domain, and the importance of the educational exceptions in contrast with the private property and trade-centric discourse of copyright. The essay is divided into five parts. After the introduction, the second chapter discusses the importance of commons in the core philosophy of copyright law, and how this has been subsumed by the private property discourse in the recent decades. The third chapter provides a brief summary …
Oxford University V. Rameshwari Photocopy Services - Reshaping The Copyright Discourse, Kartik Chawla
Oxford University V. Rameshwari Photocopy Services - Reshaping The Copyright Discourse, Kartik Chawla
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
This essay analyses the judgment of the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court in the case of University of Oxford v. Rameshwari Photocopy Services3 from the perspective of fair use and the public domain, and the importance of the educational exceptions in contrast with the private property and trade-centric discourse of copyright. The essay is divided into five parts. After the introduction, the second chapter discusses the importance of commons in the core philosophy of copyright law, and how this has been subsumed by the private property discourse in the recent decades. The third chapter provides a brief summary …
Trai Tariff Orders – Effect On Broadcasting Sector, Ameet B. Naik
Trai Tariff Orders – Effect On Broadcasting Sector, Ameet B. Naik
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
Tony Benn, the veteran British Labour politician, as the then Minister of Technology in 1968, made the statement in the context of journalism. However, in the current Indian current scenario, the quote measures true with respect to the entire broadcasting sector, with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) scampering to regulate the third largest broadcasting market in the world.2 The article deals with the impact of the TRAI Tariff Orders passed from time to time to regulate the broadcasting sector. The author acknowledges TRAI’s competence to fixing tariff, as has been judicially held,3 but questions the extent to which the …
A Legal-Comparison Of The India Software Law And The Software Law Of Germany, Thomas E. Soebbing
A Legal-Comparison Of The India Software Law And The Software Law Of Germany, Thomas E. Soebbing
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
India has emerged as one of the leading destinations for offshore outsourcing in the software industry and has attracted the attention of software industries of several countries including Germany. In order to sustain this outsourcing relationship, the legal frameworks of these countries play a very important role. In this article, the author conducts a comparative analysis of Indian and German laws that impact the software industry, mainly dealing with three fields: first, Copyright Law impacting the protection of intellectual rights over software; second, Contract Law specifically dealing with software contracts and nature of such transactions and, finally, the remedies available …
Of Bollywood Songs, Film Producers And Collecting Societies: Locating The Rights Of The Composers, Poorna Mysoor
Of Bollywood Songs, Film Producers And Collecting Societies: Locating The Rights Of The Composers, Poorna Mysoor
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
Bollywood films are known for their songs, and in many cases Bollywood films are known because of the songs. It is not merely in Bollywood films that songs have a significant role, but also in the lives of myriad composers, lyricists, singers and so on, lending an opportunity for their creative expression in addition to serving as a means of livelihood. Ideally, it should be possible for composers to be able to earn an income by composing music for films, as well as by being a member of a collecting society in such a way as to maximize their returns. …
Limitations And Exceptions In The Digital Era, William Patry
Limitations And Exceptions In The Digital Era, William Patry
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
Ideological polarization has hijacked copyright debates, drowning out the question: how do we get our copyright laws to do what we want them to do? The term “limitations and exceptions” assumes that the ability to control all unauthorized uses is the norm. This special comment asserts that private rights should never trump public interest, and that our copyright laws must reflect this principle. Copyright law must be grounded in current technological and market conditions in order to accomplish its lofty objectives. Even as changes wrought by digital technology are at the core of most debates over copyright, there is a …
A Collective Rights Society For The Digital Age, John Maloney
A Collective Rights Society For The Digital Age, John Maloney
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
Variations in digital copyright law in the international sphere have created unnecessary transaction costs to both consumers and producers who wish to transfer digital media efficiently. This article argues that the international community should create a collective rights organisation to bring uniformity, fairness, and efficiency to the process of transferring digital media and endeavours to construct the ideal model for such a collective rights organisation by describing a hypothetical collective rights organisation named PICRO (Possible International Collective Rights Organisation) and examining its operation using the example of digital music distribution. By illustrating the PICRO model in the light of current …
Permanent Downloads And The Resale Of Digital Content: Another Exhausting Journey?, Aparajita Lath
Permanent Downloads And The Resale Of Digital Content: Another Exhausting Journey?, Aparajita Lath
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
The rise of digitally supplied content has created several ambiguities regarding the treatment of such content as goods or services. The shift in the medium of delivery from physical objects to digital formats has raised several questions in the realm of copyright law. The concepts of exhaustion and first sale, the interpretation of which in the Indian context is already arguably confused, now face additional uncertainties and ambiguities. This paper seeks to identify questions that arise in the field of copyright law due to the emergence of this new medium of delivery, such as whether the circulation of digital content …
Evolution Of Copyright Law: The Indian Journey, Justice Prathiba M. Singh
Evolution Of Copyright Law: The Indian Journey, Justice Prathiba M. Singh
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
Out of all the forms of protection given to innovation and creation, copy- right law is the most versatile. This law encompasses recognition, protection and enforcement of rights for a very large variety of creative works including traditional forms of works such as books, articles, poetry, lyrics of songs, paintings, musical compositions, sculpture, architecture, script in a drama or a film, to modern forms of copyrighted works such as computer software, databases, compilations, broadcasts etc. Protection for copyright finds its justification in fair play. The law strikes a fine balance between the rights and interests of authors/owners of copyright and …
Copyright, Cultural Production And Open-Content Licensing, Lawrence Liang
Copyright, Cultural Production And Open-Content Licensing, Lawrence Liang
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
This article seeks to introduce the complex world of open-content licences against the backdrop of the massive expansion of copyright in recent years and the increasing threat posed by copyright licences to the world of cultural production. The world of open content has been inspired by the free software movement and hence this article begins with an overview of the conceptual challenges posed to copyright by free software movement. It then moves into an analysis of the ways in which the terms of free software may be understood for the purposes of cultural production and what such a translation may …
The Politics Of Pirates: Jonas Andersson Schwarz’S “Online File Sharing”, Gautam Bhatia
The Politics Of Pirates: Jonas Andersson Schwarz’S “Online File Sharing”, Gautam Bhatia
Indian Journal of Law and Technology
The international debate over file-sharing is defined by polarities. Some view this conflict as a battle for internet openness against the efforts of the film and music industry to bring about a second Enclosure Movement, this time against the worldwide digital commons. Others, however, consider it to be a legitimate law-enforcement operation against wilful facilitators of large-scale copyright infringement. In his book, Online File Sharing, published in early 2014, Jonas Andersson Schwarz argues that this dichotomy is a deeply flawed way of understanding the file-sharing dispute. Using tools from critical theory and political philosophy, Schwarz aims to break down the …