MEANING OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Intellectual property rights are an exclusive right given to the creator over the use of his/her creation. Intellectual property rights are associated with intangible assets owned by a person or company and protected against use without consent.

Intellectual property can consist of Patents, Industrial design, Logos, Trademarks, Business or trade names, Copyrights.

IMPORTANCE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

• WHILE NAMING A FILM

A filmmaker has the right to get his film’s title registered to restrict others from using the same title.

• SCREENPLAY AND WRITING

Filmmakers can file for copyright for the screenplay and script of the film under copyright rules which gives them sole ownership of their work. The screenplay, writing, full script contains acting instructions, scene directions, locations, and other film production methods that can be used to estimate the story of the film.

• MUSIC, LYRICS AND BACKGROUND MUSIC

The music, lyrics and background music are the core of a film and they belong to the entertainment industry’s intellectual property.

• COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

The rights associated with different production elements such as script, music, director and performance must be licensed, transferred and registered to allow the producer declare ownership of the film.

Throughout the film-making process, producers negotiate on various contracts that define how the intellectual property rights arise from the input and creativity of numerous creative contributors and how IP rights are applied and compensated. These agreements are supported by the Copyright law and the Contract Act,1872 and are known as the chain of title documentation.

• TECHNICAL INNOVATION

Innovation is the hallmark of this industry. The large amount of technical equipment that are used to make movies include the camera, lighting, editing, sound and special effects equipment. Many of the technological advancements are protected by patents.

• PIRACY ISSUES IN THE MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

Piracy refers to the unauthorized copying and distribution of all or most of the copyrighted work. Piracy is a threat to the creativity of an artist.

In media and entertainment industry, whenever a movie is released, copy of the movie are uploaded to many pirated websites within few hours which causes considerable losses to the producers of the film.

ROLE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

The key statute that protects the media and entertainment industry are:

• The Copyright Act,1957
• The Trademark Act,1999

These statutes are exhaustive in nature in terms of recognizing the original content, owners’ rights, fair use, remedies for infringement, broadcasting, measures against the import of infringing copies and materials.

ROLE OF COPYRIGHT LAW IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW

Section 14 of the Copyright Act,1957 defines copyright as the exclusive right over the content or work and right to do or authorize the doing of certain acts in a work. Copyright protects literary, musical, dramatic and artistic works such as poetry, novels, movies and songs.

BENEFITS:

• Public record of the work is registered
• Copyright owner gets economic benefits such as broadcasting the work, making copies etc.
• When copyright is registered, filing a lawsuit and taking legal action is enabled as legal evidence of one’s own work is available.
• If own work of any individual is been infringed in India, then the person who infringed will be punishable under section 63 of the Copyright Act,1957.

CASE LAW

In the landmark case of Dhiraj Dharamdas v. M/S Sonal Info Systems Pvt Ltd, the Bombay High Court held that, making a person liable for infringement, whether it was done with or without intention would be considered irrational or ridiculous unless the person who infringed was aware of the fact that the creator or the rightful owner of the work has registered his content or work under section 44(5) before he infringed it.

ROLE OF TRADEMARK LAW IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW

Trademarks are signs, logos, symbols or expression that is used to distinguish the goods and services of one person from another. The Trademark Act,1999 protects the names of songs, movies, titles, music albums, famous characters. The remedies for trademark infringement are available in the Trademark Act.

BENEFITS:

• The exclusive right of the trademark can be enjoyed by the owner.
• Infringement can be avoided
• Big brand names act as a magnet and attract young minds. For example: Disney has its own logo and attracts the young minds and children.
• Song titles can also be registered under the Trade Marks Act,1999. The famous song “kolaVeri di “the title of this song was the first song title to have received trademark protection under the Trademarks Act.

CASE LAW:

In the Sholay Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd. VS Parag. M. Sanghavi, movie titled, “Sholay” was a very popular movie that was known all over, released in the year 1975. In the year 2007, Ram Gopal Varma produced a movie titled “Ram Gopal Verma Ke Sholay” and he was sued on the grounds of Trademark infringement which was later changed to “Ram Gopal Varma ke Aag”.

ROLE OF PATENT LAW IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW

Patents in the media and entertainment industry are generally used to protect technological advancements and innovations in the production or distribution of the content. In the entertainment sector, intellectual property rights particularly copyrights and trademark are important and crucial however, patents are the backbone of the technological advancement of any industry.

BENEFITS:

• Restricting the competition with regards to a particular invention.
• Inventors’ monopoly is protected with patent registration
• In media, to begin an industry patent registration is necessary.

CONCLUSION

Intellectual property plays an important role in keeping the media and entertainment industry running smoothly without any problem. The copyright law protects the literary work of the author from misuse or use without consent for commercial profits. The trademark law on the other hand protects any signs, goods or services. In media and entertainment industry, work of authors and artists needs to be protected after they have been created in order to prevent the misuse of their work. Everything from television serials to Netflix series involves huge funds and hard work of various people such as director, producer, cameraman, screenwriter, actors etc. Such a role of protection can be given only by Intellectual Property in the media and entertainment industry.

REFERENCES

Protecting Intellectual Property in Media And Entertainment (legalserviceindia.com)

From Script to Screen: What Role for Intellectual Property? (wipo.int)

THE COPYRIGHT ACT,1957

Intellectual Property Law and Practice by Elizabeth Verkey

Law and the Media By: Tom Cassels   , Tom Crone   (Author)   , Philip Alberstat , Estelle Overs

THE TRADEMARK ACT,1999

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