COPYRIGHT OF CINEMATOGRAPH FLIMS AND SOUND RECORDINGS

INTRODUCTION

This century has seen a rapid rise in media consumption. Our day begins with media and ends with it too. Media and entertainment industry has over the years expanded immensely and is adapting with the changing times and technologies. Copyrights are legal frameworks that allows to get proper access in song and film industry. Under this legal framework, artists and custodians of artwork get an opportunity to derive maximum and different benefits with reference to their work. Copyright felony suggestions shield artists toward exploitation and undue pressure from market forces.

Where a full industry which is in to the Media and industry depends upon “creativity” and forever brings one thing unaccustomed the table, the protection of such content and to stop it from being copied, the importance of copyright protection becomes essential. Copyright could be a kind of Intellectual Property, which implies a property that's not tangible.

Copyrights in a cinematograph film expire 60 years after their publication, meaning thereby that they can be utilized freely without any authorization/permission. Further, as per Section 52(1)(y) of the Act “the exhibition of a film after the expiry of the term of its copyrights does not constitute an infringement”. It is well established as per the statute under S. 26 and S. 27 of the Copyrights Act, that copyrights subsist in case of a cinematograph film and sound recording until 60 years from the date of its publication. It has been a well carved out thought of the drafters of Copyrights Act that the 60-year term is to prevent perpetual monopoly over any copyrighted work.

CINEMATOGRAPH FLIMS

A Cinematograph film may be defined as any work of visual recording on any medium created through a method from that a moving image is also produced by any means that and includes a recording incidental to such visual recording and 'cinematograph' shall be created as together with any work produced by any process analogous to cinematograph including video films. The author of cinematograph film is the producer, as per section 2(d)(v) of the copyright Act.

Copyright Issues In The Media Industry

The remedy of copyright has a vital role in protecting the rights of authors of various inventive works from being commercially put-upon against their will. Particularly in such a cut-throat competition where various creative concepts are being dead and conferred each year, differing kinds of copyright claims emerge frequently. The very basic Copyright suits are regarding repetition of songs, write-ups, lyrics, the thought of any explicit film or could even relate to copy or remixing of some recent songs or so, where the litigator files the suit to either enforce an injunction order, request financial damages that are caused since the publication of the derived work, or perhaps each at times. thus, major problems which the film and tv industry touches upon in terms of copyright infringement, are the criminal copy or repetition of somebody else’s work and claiming it to be an imaginative creative idea. Bollywood has confronted many accusations relating to copying stories of other movies be it the South Indian movie industry or the Hollywood industry. There is an insignificant list of such films,?‘Hitch’?into?‘Partner’, ‘What Lies Beneath’?into?‘Raaz’, ‘Phone Booth’?into?‘Knock out’, ‘Knight & Day’?into?‘Bang Bang’, ‘Nine Months’?into?‘Salaam Namaste’, ‘My Cousin Vinny’?into?‘Banda Yeh Bindas Hai’, ‘Ocean Trilogy’?into?‘Happy New Year’, ‘Reservoir Dogs’?into?‘Kaante’ and so on.

The second issue which is additional loss which the industry suffers each year is on-line piracy. on-line piracy, in very simple terms, may be outlined as the acts of unauthorized websites to stay open access to the public, to transfer or watch any film, even before it's been officially released within theatres for viewers to watch. once any such film, because it is alleged unremarkably “gets leaked online” even before the official unharness date of the film, the producer of the film has got to suffer large losses, because the most public has before release, downloaded and watched the film and thus doesn't pay its cash to travel and watch the flick in the theatres. The Copyright Act together with the Indian judiciary, have time and once more established of large facilitate to such film producers and authors of inventive works, wherever showing a mere proof of registration of copyright will help the litigator claim the originality to the work and acquire injunction and compensation for the losses suffered. Concerning safety from on-line piracy, there are many instances where the Indian judiciary has just followed the trail of granting the John Doe orders to the plaintiff once they came up with the calculable losses a big-budgeted film can suffer if such a happening takes place. John Doe orders are primarily the interim injunction orders passed against the unknown defendants. Thus, the remedy of copyright shielded the industry from criminal activities. Such Pre-Infringement Injunction remedy has been provided by the Indian judiciary. Another distinctive feature of the Copyright Act, is that it helps protect not solely the originality of the inventive work of such author or the performing artist however additionally the name and also the public image of the performer from any violation, this could be termed as the protection for temperament rights. Sections 38, 38A and 38B of the Indian Copyright Act specifically talks about the subject of performing artist’s right.

Zanjeer (Salim Khan and Another v. Sumeet Prakash Mehra And Others)

Zanjeer is a 1973 blockbuster Hindi film, featuring legendary actors Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Pran, Ajit Khan, and Bindu. The sequel of this blockbuster hit was written by Salim Khan with the help of Javed Khan and was produced by Prakash Mehra Productions. But, in 2009 Mr Mehra passed away and his rights were passed on to his lawful heir, Puneet Prakash Mehra. Puneet Prakash Mehra, the present copyright holder filed a complaint claiming the violation of copyright at Juhu Police Station on October 7, 2020. The matter was given over to the Crime Intelligence Unit of Mumbai Police on 1st January. The Plaintiffs argued that they were the authors of the original Zanjeer and this literary work was never authorized by Prakash Mehra, it was in existence even before Prakash Mehra had proposed the Plaintiffs for the same. In this case, the Court concluded that Prakash Mehra had charged the work from the plaintiffs for a consideration of Rs. 55, 000 each and was subsequently the primary proprietor of the film’s underlying works, which incorporated the literary work.

Based on these facts, the court reached a prima facie conclusion that it is the maker for example Prakash Mehra who turned into the primary proprietor of the copyright in the fundamental work (the script) and subsequently had a right to remake the same Additionally, the court tracked down that the plaintiffs had unduly delayed in carrying the case to court. They were firmly connected with the film industry and accordingly could not take the plea that they did not know that the defendants were in the process of remaking Zanjeer, which was broadly publicized.

Conclusion

Copyright infringement has been a major concern for stakeholders in the music and film industry. In order to deal with copyright infringement, there are statutory structures and frameworks that govern acquisition of rights for individuals whose operations suffice with regard to the industry. It is important that the authorities should look for proper regulation of copyrights. They should also sensitize people on the essence and rationale of copyright provisions in order to reduce cases of Piracy and malpractice in the industry.

In this age of media explosion, one cannot simply remain confined to the boundaries of the traditional media. The media world has expanded its dimensions by encompassing within its orbit. As a consequence, the laws governing them are also numerous. A person must be aware of the various important laws affecting the various branches of Media Communication, making him aware of his rights and facilitating him to exercise them within the framework of law existing in India.