[The following announcement is being posted on behalf of NUJS Law
Review]
Review]
The Copyright Amendment Act, 2012 recently passed by both houses of
parliament promises to thoroughly revise the laws currently governing the
Indian Copyright regime. This legislative moment provides an appropriate
opportunity for academic reflection on the proposed changes, their probable
impact and a holistic appraisal of the provisions as they now stand.
parliament promises to thoroughly revise the laws currently governing the
Indian Copyright regime. This legislative moment provides an appropriate
opportunity for academic reflection on the proposed changes, their probable
impact and a holistic appraisal of the provisions as they now stand.
The Editorial Board
of the NUJS Law Review invites contributions for its forthcoming special issue
on “The Copyright Amendment Act,
2012: Welcome change or missed opportunity?”. Interested contributors
should submit their respective entries no later than 15 November, 2012 to [email protected].
Sporadic jottings:
At the outset, plainly admitting to be one in the multitude and having no direct concern, yet given a quick reading of the related material in public domain, without getting into details. Albeit, being aware of the wisdom behind the age old caution, – Devil is in details; all the more holding good to modern times.
In the Analysis of the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2012 — Centre for …
cis-india.org/a2k/blog/analysis-copyright-amendment-bill-2012/
one thing which calls for pointed attention is the truth underlying the observation therein that, – “The larger concern, though, …and how copyright policy is made ….and often out of touch with contemporary realities of the digital era.”
Quite agree; no policy or enactment can be foolproof and serve or sub -serve any practical propose worth a mention, if it is not done backed up by any mindful study and appreciation of the ‘contemporary realities’ in its absolute and comprehensive sense.
On the concept of ‘copyright’, what comes to one’s mind is a write-up @itatonline titled, -When Nani Palkhivala was accused of Piracy !
The observations in the write-up reproduced below, make for an interesting reading : It seems incredible that anyone would have the temerity to accuse the great Nani Palkhivala of piracy and copyright infringement especially on a subject such as income-tax law. And what makes this even more astounding is that the person making the allegation is not some deranged and raving lunatic frothing at the mouth but Sampath Iyengar, the highly respected lawyer and author of the best selling treatise “The Law of Income-tax”.
So, what possessed Sampath Iyengar to make this preposterous allegation against Nani Palkhivala ? “
It requires a special mention that, the fate of the case was sealed by the court; the judge called it “ill-advised litigation”.
To reflect and give vent to one’s honest feeling and strong reaction, without mincing words, an impressive quote from should suffice:
> Prof. Irving Younger of the Cornell University suggested that our judges should evolve the doctrine that “no law is validly enacted unless legislators voting for it have read it”.
As the revered legal luminary Palkhivala said, – “By this test, 95 percent of the laws passed by the Indian Parliament and the State Legislatures would have to be invalidated.”
In an attempt at an academic reflection (as suggested at the iCL Blog), emerges the following summation:
Copyright is a concept traced back to old English law, but now a thing of the past, with no utilitarian significance or value. In recent decades, with the advent of more and more new technologies, novel modes / techniques of dissemination of any information or knowledge, in the larger public interest, ‘copyright’ ought not sought to be construed, except to fit into within its given pragmatic limits. For, in reality, legal significance and importance attached to ‘copyright’ has been increasingly waning, and almost vanished in oblivion.
In the context herein, one will do well to bear in mind the uncontrollable forces behind,- why even enforcement of a simple law such as prohibition of smoking in public has not been successful but proved almost a total failure right from day one.
However, anyone interested in seeking and finding some solace may care to go through the several bizarre stories on the intellectual property law, @
http://www.intellectualpropertylawblog.com/archives/copyrights-blog-hyperlinks-to-news-stories-copyright-infringement-or-not.html
Also, @ http://www.socialmedialawupdate.com