A ‘Legal Issues Seminar-General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Samreen Iboo Sait, Associate, on “Whether Traditional Cultural Expressions can be Protected under Law?” The seminar explored characteristics of Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCEs), the pre-conditions of granting protection under copyright law, and possible interpretations of the current law to determine whether appropriate protection can be afforded to tradition-based creations of different communities. The seminar included discussions on some interesting alternative solutions to protection of TCEs and applicable non-IP laws that such communities could possibly rely on.

The presentation can be accessed here.

During last week’s Practice Work Shop (PWS) Session, Hardik Choudhary, Associate, led a discussion on whether multiple copyright societies are better than one for a particular class of work. The session witnessed an engrossing discussion on the current system of one copyright society for a class of work and its inherent issues. The session further delved into the advantages and disadvantages of having multiple copyright societies for a class of work. The session concluded with some interesting exchange of views on the possibility of creating regional offices of existing societies rather than new societies, and the possibility of government intervention in the system.

General IP Interns – Sonal Sinha, Arya Wakdikar, Harsimran Singh, Vismay G.R.N., Sumana Roychowdhury and Yash Raj (Final Year Interns); and Melita Tessy (Pre-Final Year Intern) have successfully completed their internship at ALG. At the end of their internship, they obliged us with their thoughts and ideas during the Sharing of Reflections (SoR) sessions. Their presence enriched the firm while they interned here. We wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

For our last post under the MEDLEY Series, Sarita, Bhawna, Muskan and Mitumoni share their favourite lines from their native tongues.

We thank all our members for participating in our first activity under the MEDLEY Series, and sharing fun, witty, honest, insightful and thought-provoking responses. This activity was an enriching one for us – not only in terms of getting acquainted with and appreciating the diverse languages of our members, but also in learning a few words through our members’ responses!

A ‘Legal Issues Seminar-General IP’ (LIS-GIP) was conducted by Shilpa Margaret Kurian, Trainee Associate, on ‘Whether Digital Identities are Accorded Protection under Law?’. The seminar explored the concepts of digital identity and privacy, and the discussion saw how digital identities can be protected under the IP regime. Reliance was placed on relevant legal provisions under the Copyright Act, 1957 as well as on judicial pronouncements to understand the protection that can be accorded to digital identities. The session concluded with some interesting questions and dialogue among the team regarding the right to identity and right to publicity, as well as on the issues of infringement of identities in the case of street photography.

The presentation can be accessed here.