May 17 is celebrated as the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. In line with this year’s World Health Organization [WHO] theme – “Together: Resisting, Supporting, Healing”– we at ALG pledge to celebrate and support sexual and gender diversities. We strongly prohibit all kinds of violations basis sexual orientation or gender identity at ALG and will continue to take steps to make the environment at ALG a safe space for everybody.

We’re in love with the copyright-free posters issued by WHO to celebrate this day and are sharing our favorite one with this post.. Please visit https://may17.org/posters-for-may-17-2021-free-to-use-and-share/ to access the other (equally beautiful) posters.

Lastly, in keeping with the (self-created!) tradition of recommending movies/shows to start a dialogue, we’re here with another one – Schitt’s Creek! Please watch it, and feel your heart fill with warmth and joy.

During last week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Aishwarya Pande, Associate, lead a discussion on whether the Intellectual Property Rights regime can be used as a mechanism to promote public interest. The session saw an engaging discussion on whether grant of monopolistic IP rights foster public interest, and whether in promotion of such public interest, the economic rights of individuals would be compromised. The discussion also delved into the role of the IP regime in promoting public interest during the ongoing pandemic.

A ‘Legal Issues Seminar’ (LIS) was conducted by Hardik Choudhary, Associate, on “Whether Separate Royalties need to be paid for Sound Recordings, Cinematographic Films and Underlying Works?”

The seminar touched upon the statutory provisions of copyright laws dealing with payments of royalties to authors of underlying works along with the interpretations of those provisions by the judiciary. The discussion also delved into changes brought by the 2012 amendment to the Copyright Act, 1957. The session saw questions from the team on whether royalty has to be paid by OTT and other streaming platforms in light of the statutory provisions.

The presentation can be accessed here.

During last week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Sri Lekha Rayapati, Associate, lead a discussion on the importance of IP Commons-oriented initiatives and organizations and the need for creating awareness thereon. The session saw an engaging discussion on the Creative Commons India Chapter, and its role in expanding and promoting Commons. The discussion also delved in to the efforts taken by the Government of India and educational institutions for creating accessibility to Commons through their various initiatives.

A ‘Legal Issues Seminar’ (LIS) was conducted by Aishwarya Pande, Associate, on “Whether Quality Control Provisions under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 can be sidestepped?”

The seminar touched upon the importance of quality control in trademark licensing and whether it is mandatory to incorporate quality control stipulations in licensing agreements. The session saw questions from the team on whether the Supreme Court could have given relaxation to licensors for enforcing quality control stipulation in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and whether this would have helped foster a healthier business environment.

The presentation can be accessed here.