SHIV SENA MEMBER FILES A POLICE COMPLAINT AGAINST NETFLIX ACCUSING IT FOR ‘DEFAMING’ HINDUS AND INDIA GLOBALLY.
Shiv Sena member Mr. Ramesh Solanki has filed a police complaint in LT Marg Police Station against Netflix alleging that the online video streaming service is defaming Hindus and India through its shows.
He has cited examples of series such as ‘Sacred Games’, ‘Ghoul’, ‘Laila’ and standup comedy show of Hasan Minhaj to support his complaint and accused the online streaming services of ‘trying to paint an incorrect picture of India and Hindus globally’.
Mr. Solanki has urged the authorities, through his complaint, to take necessary steps such as cancelling of licenses in order to stop the online streaming service from trying to defame the religious minority of Hindus in countries other than India on the basis of ‘bogus rhetoric’. He has also urged the authorities to take necessary legal actions for hurting Hindu sentiments.
CALCUTTA HIGH COURT ASKS SHAH RUKH KHAN TO FILE AFFIDAVIT EXPLAINING HIS RELATION WITH IIPM
The Calcutta High Court on September 5, directed actor Shah Rukh Khan to file an affidavit to explain his relation with the Indian Institute of Planning and Management. A Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry has been sought against the institute for allegedly misleading and duping students. Currently, the West Bengal Police are investigating the matter. SRK has appeared in some of IIPM’s advertisements. The petitioners, who are students of the institute, claimed that they were impressed by the actor’s advertisements where he promoted the institute.
TRAI REVISES REGULATION ON INTERCONNECTION AGREEMENTS.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released revised regulation regarding the Register of Interconnection Agreements on 4th September, 2019.
According to this regulation, broadcasters must inform the regulator details of their commercial deals with cable and DTH players, or distribution platform operators (DPOs). These details include individual agreements like marketing and placement, agreements on advertisement slots, and extended credit facility.
Initially the distributor having average active subscriber base below one lakh have been exempted from the obligation of reporting details of interconnection agreements to promote ease of business and reducing regulatory burden on such MSOs with limited resources. The new regulation envisages online filing in electronic mode.
The Authority has specified that the new regulations will come in force in 120 days, except as regards submission of information related to Compliance officer.
TRAI stated that the objective of the said regulation is to promote transparency and nondiscrimination in the Broadcasting sector.
According to reports, the broadcasters are of the view that though the revision in regulation won’t harm the business, it would cause unnecessary burden on the broadcasters.
FILMMAKER JANAK TOPRANI ACCUSES MAKERS OF ‘DREAM GIRL’ OF PLAGIARISM
As per reports, Ayushmann Khurrana’s upcoming comedy-drama ‘Dream Girl’ was recently drawn into controversy after filmmaker Janak Toprani accused the makers of plagiarism. Janak Toprani who has directed a film called ‘Call For Fun’ in 2017 alleged that Ayushmann Khurrana’s ‘Dream Girl’ has a striking resemblance to his film which sees the main male lead character donning various female avatars.
Recently, ‘Dream Girl’ director Raaj Shaandilyaa responded to the plagiarism allegations and defied all such claims. The filmmaker during a recent interview reportedly said that the idea of the film belongs to him and his co-writer Nirmaan D. Singh since 2010 and they have also registered it. Raaj Shaandilyaa further emphasized on his point saying that the concerned director’s film was not commercially successful, so why would he or anybody replicate the idea.
DELHI HIGH COURT RULES THAT ONLINE INTERMEDIARIES ARE LIABLE TO PULL DOWN INFRINGING CONTENT AS AND WHEN BROUGHT TO THEIR NOTICE
In a trademark infringement suit by the owner of the mark ‘Da Milano’ against online advertisements that were illegally using the Da Milano trademark,the trial court had sought the presence of Facebook and Instagram in the matter. This prompted the intermediaries to approach the Delhi High Court seeking exemption from personal appearance before the trial court.
The Delhi High Court reiterated that while online intermediaries may not perform an active role in the posting of infringing content, they would still be liable to pull down such content as and when it is brought to their notice. The order reads:
“Considering the provisions of the IT Act and Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011, platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, which claim to be intermediaries not performing any active role in the posting of such information by third party alleged infringers, have a duty only to take down the posts which are brought to their notice by the Plaintiff in terms of Section 79(3), by following due diligence. The said Section and the Guidelines thereunder have been interpreted by the Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v Union of India (2015) 5 SCC 1 to mean that any information received by the platforms would be by means of a Court order.”
In view of these observations, the High Court directed Facebook and Instagram to take down infringing online content as and when the plaintiff informs them of the same.
The Court also allowed the plea to exempt the two intermediaries from personal appearance before the trial court. Further, the plaintiff was granted liberty to move the trial court or avail other available legal remedies if the intermediaries do not comply with this order.
FILM ‘SAAHO’ ACCUSED TO BE A RIP-OFF OF A FRENCH FILM ‘LARGO WINCH’.
According to reports, Twitter users have pointed out similarities between the recently released film ‘Saaho’, starring actors Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor, and French film ‘Largo Winch’ by filmmaker Jerome Salle which released in the year 2008.
The filmmaker responded to the tweets sent to him by giving a sarcastic response stating that the he has a promising career in India. He further also tweeted that “It seems this second “freemake” of Largo Winch is as bad as the first one. So please Telugu directors, if you steal my work, at least do it properly? And as my ‘Indian career’ tweet was of course ironic, I’m sorry but I’m not gonna be able to help.”
Salle had earlier accused Telugu director of the movie ‘Agnyaathavaasi’ over the same issue.
This is the fourth accusation of plagiarism levelled against the film ‘Saaho’. Earlier, the first poster of the movie was said to be a rip-off from Ryan Gosling’s Blade Runner 2049. The subsequent poster was said to be taken from the video game, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. The special visual effects environment used in the movie’s song titled ‘Baby Wont You Tell Me’ was copied from artist Shilo Shiv Suleman’s Burning Man installation.
