Parliament passes the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023
The Lok Sabha passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023 after it was approved by the Rajya Sabha. The Bill shall introduce additional categories for film certification, perpetual validity of certificates and penalty for unauthorized recording of films to be imprisonment between 3 months to 3 years and a fine of Rs. 3 lakhs. The Bill shall aim to bring harmonization of law with extant executive orders, judicial decisions and other relevant legislations.
Link to the Bill: here
Karnataka Govt set to introduce new law to combat fake news on social media
Karnataka’s Home Minister has announced that the state will introduce a new cyberlaw which will make the nation-wide heads of social media platforms responsible for the content being shared on their platforms. The government will take strict action against individuals who spread misinformation and disinformation about the government and/or any other individual.
Randeep Hooda and Producers of ‘Swatantrya Veer Sarvarkar’ enter into a copyright tiff
A legal battle has emerged between the actor-director-producer of the film ‘Swatantrya Veer Sarvarkar’, Randeep Hooda, and the co-producers of the film. The co-producers have been served with a legal notice stating that Hooda was approached to play the lead role when the script wasn’t finalized and that the actor had to commence shooting from June 2022. However, since the director who was roped in for the project had to leave and Hooda took over the film, the co-producers allegedly unlawfully registered the script under their name.
The issue pertains to rights over the film where Hooda alleges that he is the sole owner of the film and that he wasn’t paid his dues for the role by the co-producers after the initial signing amount.
Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 tabled in Parliament
The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha. The aim of the legislation is to regulate processing of personal data long with ensuring a person’s right to protect their data. This is the second attempt by the Government at drafting a legislation related to privacy.
The Bill has introduced important aspects such as websites obtaining permission from users before using their data, consent before getting emails or texts for brand promotions, transparency relating to data being used by online businesses.
Read Bill here.
Goan mangoes, bebinca and crafts from Rajasthan and UP get GI tags
The Geographical Indications Registry has granted GI tags to ‘Jalesar Dhatu Shilp’ (a metal craft), ‘Goa Mankurad Mango’, ‘Goan Bebinca’, ‘Udaipur Koftgari Metal Craft’, ‘Bikaner Kashidakari Craft’, ‘Jodhpur Bandhej Craft’, and ‘Bikaner Usta Kala Craft’.
Supreme Court rules in favour of Zomato’s BLINKIT in the trademark dispute against BLINKHIT
The Apex Court has refused to interfere with the Karnataka High Court’s order which set aside stay against Zomato owned grocery delivery platform BLINKIT for being similar to the trade mark called BLINKHIT. Among other things, the Court noted that BLINKHIT had never used the mark as a brand name in any of its businesses.
Dua Lipa faces $20 million copyright claims over the song ‘Levitating’
The musician, Basko Kante, has accused Dua Lipa of using talk box recording in her songs without permission. Lipa is now facing a USD 20 million copyright claim over the song Levitating. As per law, Lipa is allowed to use the talk box recording in original recordings but not for remixes.
Elon Musk’s X faces copyright challenge
A news agency, AFP, has filed a copyright case in France against X, formerly known as Twitter. The media groups are battling that platforms like X, Facebook and Google are using their stories and images and thus, the groups should be given a part of the profits. This case comes in light of the 2019 EU Law which allowed for payments for haring content under a regime called “Neighbouring Rights,” which led to Google and Facebook agreeing to pay French media outlets.
