In this century, India is expanding and one of the largest growing markets out there in the world. To suffice the consumer needs, there is an increase an immense competition amongst the sellers. Besides, the population growth is increasing each passing year; so are their purchasing capabilities. Thus, giving rise to a ruthless competition among the sellers as all of them want to gain profit. Hence, the seller’s often rely on advertisements to reach out to the customers. In addition, to make their product stand out and unique among the others they often make false and misleading claims about their products. 

FORMATION OF ADVERTISING STANDARDS COUNCIL OF INDIA: 

Ever since India gained independence in 1947 there has been an upsurge in the market whilst India developed economically and made global progression. The rivalry among the sellers increased this, the prominent members felt the need to ensure fair play among the sellers and manufacturers. in 1985 , the eminent personalities of a nation connected renowned men from the four sectors :

● Advertisers;

● Advertising agencies;

● Media broadcasting and the press; and 

● PR Agency and Market Research Agencies .

They came together to accept global best practices in the field of “Self Regulation in Advertising” . USA , UK, Germany has similar organisations known as “Self Regulatory Organisations” (SROs). Recently, there are more than 70 SROs working effaciously including India.  

ADVERTISING STANDARD COUNCIL OF INDIA (ASCI)

The ASCI  registered itself as self regulatory and non-profit company under section 25 of the Indian Companies Act of 1956. It is a voluntary self regulation council promoting self regulation in advertising. The consists of a board of Governor including 16 members representing the advertisers agencies media and other individual firms. It also has 21 members from the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) , out of which 12 of them and notable personalities from fields such as medical, legal, engineering, human resources etc. The rest are from the advertisement agency. Presently there are 313 members. 

Funds are collected by the businesses undertaken by the ASCI through yearly membership subscription. The turnover of the subscriptions vary within the range of 2000 to 75000 per annum. 

OBJECTIVE OF ASCI:

The ASCI envision to do the following :

To monitor , manage and promote standards of advertising practices in India with a view to:

1. Ensure that there is truthfulness and honesty in the presentations and the claims made through the advertisement agencies against any misleading claims. 

2. Ensure that there is nothing offensive to the general mass of the nation and the standards of public agency in advertisements is followed. 

3. Ensure against any in discrimination use of advertisement for the purpose of products or services which are considered as hazardous to the general public or individuals which are unacceptable to the society as a whole.

4. Ensure that there is a fair play amongst the advertisement agencies and generally accepted competitive behaviour.

5. To codify, adopt and modify the code of advertisement from time to time and manage and control and publicize such code. 

6. To provide facilities and machinery in the form of one or more Consumer Complaint Council having such composition against advertisement in the code of advertisement practices and report thereon. 

MISSION OF ASCI:

The ASCI has a comprehensive goal to achieve and amplify the common mass’s confidence in advertising. ASCI seeks to safeguard the advertisements and uphold its code of self regulation which requires advertisements to be :

1. Truthful and honest to its customers and competitors.

2. To stay within the periphery of societal standards and public decency.

3. To not used in discrimination to promote hazardous products.

MAIN ACTIVITIES OF THE ASCI:

The ASCI  codify, adopt and modify the advertisement practices in India from time to time and implement, administer and promote, promulgate and publicize such code. Provides facilities and machinery in the form of Consumer Complaints Council having such composition and power prescribed from time to time to examine complaints against ads in terms of the code and report there on.

Give wide publicity to the code and seek adherence to it of as many as possible of those engaged in advertising. To print and publish templates, leaflets and circulars or other literature or material that may be considered desirable for the promotion or carrying out of the objectives of the company and disseminate it through any medium of communication. 

THE ASCI CODE:

The ASCI  has adopted to code for Self Regulation and Advertising. The code is framed by eminent personalities belonging to various professions and industries connected with advertising and media. The purpose of the code is to control the ingredients of advertisement not to impede the sell of offensive products for reasons what so ever the cause maybe, provided that the advertisements are themselves not offensive in nature therefore causing no objectification by this code.

The ASCI Code is now a part of cable television network rules. The rule 7(9) states that no at which violates the code of self-regulation in AD as adopted by ASCI Mumbai for public exhibition from time to time shall be carried in cable service. This recent amendment has now the immense power to the ASCI. 

When the court will start gaining popularity among the general public, there will be :

● Lesser false misleading claims;

● Fewer unfair advertisements; and

● Increasing responsibility. 

CODE FOR SELF REGULATION:

The code for self regulation in advertising adopted by the members of the advertising standards Council of India is as follows :

“The purpose of the food is to control the content of advertisements not to have for the sale of products which may be found defensive for whatever reason why some people provided the advertisements for such products are not themselves offensive that will be normally no ground for objection to them in terms of the code. “

RESPONSIBILITY FOR OBSERVATION OF CODE:

The responsibility for the observation of code for self regulation it advertisement lies with the persons who are engaged in commission, creation or publication of advertisements, or assist in the creation or publication of any advertisement. None of these advertisement agencies are expected to create content of advertisements which contravene this code. This is a self imposed discipline which the code requires for self regulation in advertisement from all those who are involved in the commissioning or creation and placement or publishing of advertisements. 

Besides this code is applicable for advertisements read ,heard or viewed in India even though if they are originated in any foreign country as long as the consumers of India at exposed to those advertisements. 

THE CODE AND THE LAW:

The code rule along with various provisions of common law and statutes affecting form and content of advertisements. The rules of the court are not to upsurp the legal machinery but designated to complement legal control . 

CONSUMER COMPLAINTS COUNCIL:

The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC)  is appointed by the board of governors. There shall be no more than 21 members out of which 12 shall belong to the civil society and nine from the advertisement agency. The CCC decide upon complaints within a period of 4 to 6 weeks. the CCC examine and investigate the Complaints received from customers and the public regarding any breach of the code of conduct and or any action to be taken in this regard. 

POWERS OF CONSUMER COMPLAINTS COUNCIL:

The following are the powers of the CCC: 

1. Each Council is entitled to receive complaints from the board of Governor, the consumer and the public and members of company. 

2. Each Council must enquire, investigate and decide upon the Complaints they have received within a framework provided by the code of conduct adopted by the company. 

3. All the decision by the Council shall by simple majority in writing and specify the actions to be taken in respect of offensive advertisement.  

The ASCI encourages a common mass to file complaint against advertisements which they find to be expensive and each of these complaints received unparalleled and impartial and unbiased consideration by the CCC which considers and takes into account the viewpoint of the advertisers and consumers and check if it’s communicated well and/ or it contravenes the code of conduct. 

The role of CCC, deals with complaints relating to consumer and industry, advertisements which are false, indecent, offensive or illegal or promote unfair competition and which contravene the code of ASCI.

JURISDICTION:

The ASCI deals with cases related to infringement of intellectual property rights. In the case  of Procter and Gamble Home Products Vs Hindustan Unilever limited , the Delhi High Court had discussed at length about the jurisdiction of the Advertising Standard Council of India. It was held that the ASCI is a self regulatory body in the advertising field but not for dispute resolution or awarding damages to plaintiff. However, there is a complaint committee, but it is only to self regulate. If the ASCI find any complaint of merit, they can only recommend the advertiser but there is no mechanism to grant any relief to the plaintiff. 

Although the Delhi High Court was of a different view in the case of, Metro Tyres limited Vs ASCI , that the role of ASCI is self regulatory and in curtailing the litigation thereby providing a mechanism for amicable settlement of disputes and also function as an alternative dispute mechanism.

CONCLUSION:

The ASCI, is the non profitable self regulatory and non governmental body. The role of ASCI is now being recognised by the Supreme Court as well as a self regulatory mechanism for advertisements in India. Although till now it has only mainly made recommendations to the advertisers and they cannot grant relief at compel them to follow any orders. But as a self regulatory body through an attempt to curb the unfairness and exaggerated claims by the advertisement agencies, the ASCI has had come a long way and has a long journey ahead of it. This organisation has changed the outlook of advertising in India. And the Consumer Complaints Council has provided the common people to file complaint against offensive ads as the right guaranteed to the customer. 

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India has reported a hike in the growth of newspaper by 8%. And all the credit goes to the Registrar of Newspaper of India(RNI). The print publications in India account for an astonishing figure of 43% of all corporate advertising. Between the years of 2010 and 2014 India observed that revenues collected by newspapers are almost about 40%. 

“Newspapers provide more clarity to readers who are confused and are looking for the facts after viewing still debate on TV channels “said by Arun Jaitley. 

A newspaper must contain: 

● The issue number, volume number, title prominently displayed on the cover page and all the other pages. 

● Date line and page number and an imprint line containing the name of publisher, printer, editor and owner address of the place of Publication and name and address of the printing press

● If the printer and publisher are different individuals separate declarations are required to be submitted. 

REGISTRAR OF NEWSPAPER:

In India, the publication of newspapers, periodicals and books are regulated by the Press and Books Registration Act, 1867(PRB Act). It came into existence as a statutory body on July 1956 on the recommendation of the Press Commission in 1953 and also by the amendment of the PRB Act which proposed the creation of such office.  

PRESS AND REGISTRATION OF BOOK ACT, 1867

This Act has mainly been passed in the pre independence era to keep records of the books and publications in the country. The act has been amended 22 times eversince. 

The Amendment to this Act(55 of the year 1955) was brought into force in July 1956 by notification of the government of India. In addition the RNI Rules 1956 was promulgated and the Registrar of Newspaper of India for India was appointed under 19(A) of the PRB Act of 1867, having its headquarters in New Delhi. The aimed to vest in the Union Government the authority to administer provisions of the act relating to newspapers. Although, it did not affect the powers of the State Government in any manner. 

FUNCTIONS OF THE RNI:

The duties of the RNI can be classified into :

1. Statutory ; and 

2. Non statutory functions 

Now let’s discuss them in brief: 

1. STATUTORY FUNCTIONS:

a. To compile and maintain a register of newspapers under section 19(C) of the PRB Act. 

b. To scrutinize and analyse the annual statement sent by publishers of newspapers every year under 19(D) of the PRB Act.

c. To issue the certificate of registration to the newspaper under 19(C) of the Act. 

d. To inform the district magistrate about the availability of proposed titles for intending publishers for filing declaration under section 6 of the PRB Act. 

e. To verify the circulation claims of newspapers under 19(F) of the Act.

2. NON STATUTORY FUNCTIONS:

a. To issue eligibility certificate to the registered newspapers to enable them to import news print. 

b. To issue essentiality certificate to import printing and composing machinery and allied materials. 

c. To issue number of newspaper certificate under Foreign Contribution Regulations Act of 1976.

RNI REGISTRATION:

The Registrar of Newspapers  must grant a RNI registration to those who wish to establish a newspaper , periodical or printing Publication in India. The Ministry of Information and broadcasting directs and controls, including framing the rules and regulations for the RNI under the PRB Act. The RNI must approve to the businesses of newspapers, magazines, journals accepted to come into business. 

PROCESS OF REGISTRATION: 

To be registered by the RNI the following steps must be followed : 

1. VERIFICATION OF TITLE:

The Registration of Newspapers is a 2 step process. Firstly, the publisher must apply to the District Magistrate. The magistrate must verify the details in the application. The application must include:

● The name of the newspaper;

● The name of the owner;

● The language of circulation;

● Periodicity; and

● The proposed area of Publication. 

The application thereafter is forwarded to the district magistrate for verification. When the verification is done the publisher and/or the printed must file declaration and after its authentication, the Volume 1 Issue 1 is to be released. Once verification is completed, a letter of title verification is issued and the RNI notifies the district magistrate about the availability of the title. 

2. AUTHENTICATION OF DECLARATION:

Once the verification of title  is obtained, the publisher should be presented to the district magistrate along with a proper filing of declaration (form 1) for authentication. 

If the publisher and printer are different individuals then two separate declarations should be filed. Moreover, if the place and publication and printing press are in different districts, two separate decorations are required. 

In case the documents are not received within a time span of 2 years of verification, the title automatically gets de blocked. this mechanism is derived from section 6 of PRB Act of 1867. Total 6508 titles were de blocks during the years 2016 and 2017. 

The RNI maintains a manual system card before verification is computerized. Once the data files are verified on the RNI website, the intending applicants can have a rough idea of the existing titles before submitting their own. Recently the RNI has created an option for applicants to file applications online. The RNI receive approximately 20,000 application for title verification every year out of which only 9000 and verified. 

3. CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION:

Registration process starts after the verification of the title. After confirming that the publication has been printed and published in conformity with the provisions of the PRB Act the publisher is provided with the registration number allotted to the newspaper and entries made in the register of the RNI. The certificate of registration  is issued by the press register. A total of 4143  certificates were registered in 2016-17. 

Example: the registration number issued as a serial number/year starting from 1/57 issued to “ Vishwa Jyoti’’ from Punjab till the registration 72557/99. After computerizing of data, a system of issuing registration number with state and language code is provided. First such serial number was issued to “Rashtriya Hindi Mail” with new registration number CHHHIN/1998/00001.

4. MAINTENANCE OF RECORD:

The Press Registrar is required to maintain a record  in a prescribed manner under section 19 (B) of the PRB Act 1867. In 1999 the existing data was computerized and maintained there after in the form of computerised generated office copy. 

5. PUBLICATION OF FIRST ISSUE:

The PRB Act states that the first issue  should be published within 42 days of authentication if it is a daily or weekly. but if it is an issue with periodicity of fortnite or above the first issue should be published within 90 days of authentication. 

Incase the printing press and place of Publication is in different districts, the date of authentication of place of Publication declaration filed by the publisher will be considered for calculating 42/90 days for the publication of first issue.

6. LIST DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR FINAL REGISTRATION:

The following documents must be submitted for the registration of a newspaper Publication: 

1. A copy of the title verification letter issued by RNI.

2. Declaration (Form-1) filed by the Publisher and duly authenticated by DM/DC/SDM/JCP/CMM.

3. A written agreement between owner of periodical. In case the owner of the periodical and  owner of the printing press are not the same, the agreement submitted must bear both the signatures.

4. A copy of the first issue i.e. volume 1, issue 1. While submitting the first issue, please, make sure that:

● The first issue of the periodical is published within 42 days of the date of authentication of declaration.  

● The first issue has Volume 1, Issue 1 clearly printed on the front page.

● The issue carries the printed title, page numbers and full date of its publication.

● The title or the masthead is presented in a uniform font/letter size. Any variation should not exceed 25%.

● The published newspaper/periodical contains public news, views or comments.

● The newspaper/periodical must only be published in the languages verified by RNI.

● Use of symbols, graphics, emoticons, etc. in place of a syllable/letter in the title should be avoided.

● The imprint line in every copy must carry the correct and complete information.

A signed copy of the Printer agreement authorization in writing from owner(s), authorizing individual (by name) to make and subscribe declaration as publisher/printer, in the case where the publisher or printer making a declaration is not the owner thereof..

PRESS OF INDIA

The Press Register shall under 19(G) of the PRB Act, shall submit an early annual report containing a summary of the information collected by him during the year concerned in respect of newspapers in India giving a brief account of the working of that newspapers and the copies shall be submitted to the government.

The first such report was “PRESS IN INDIA” was submitted in 1956 to the Central Government on 30th April 1957,by the first registrar  Shri M.L. Bharadwaj. Since then the Press in India is brought out every year on the basis of information provided by the publishers in the annual statement filed under rule 6(1) of the Registration of Newspapers Central Rules of 1956. Now, the Press in India is also being brought out in digital format. 

JURISDICTION OF RNI: 

RNI is a body that validate and authenticates newspaper publications. There times they have been accused of misfeasance and nonfeasance. In the case  of Gopalakrishna Shenoy vs Government Of India, it was held that the RNI acted bonafide and verified on the basis of available documents and sources and did nothing outside their jurisdiction. RNI had also within its powers granted the title and verification to the respondent with just cause and reason. They were in no position to be blamed as there was no malafide intention. 

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE RNI:

The major achievements of RNI in the last few years are as follows:

a. Advancements in technology has now empowered the RNI to facilitate the applicants. They can now upload the application on the RNI website for public view.

b. Verification can be made online since 1st March 2015.

c. E-filing of annual statement has been implemented. 

d. RNI can now send regular SMS and emails to applicants about the application status. 

CONCLUSION:

The RNI office was formed to deal with the registration of newspapers, periodicals looking into the spike of newspapers and magazines in English as well as vernacular languages. According to a 2014 , Readership Survey Results, “Dainik Jagaran” Hindi newspaper top the chart with 16.6 million readers. It was thereafter are necessary to certify and grant titles to authentic newspapers in the market where there are more than 20000 intending applicants each year. The RNI has changed the outlook of newspaper registration in India and has come a long way since 1956. With proper law implementation it has a long journey ahead of it. 

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The Ministry of Power (MoP), has proposed another electricity amendment bill on April 17, 2020. They had also enacted the  Electricity Act of 2003 which deals with all the laws relating to electricity, and ever since that act they have also drafted two amendment bills in the years of 2014 and 2018 respectively but neither of them were passed in the Union Parliament and failed to become law.

 The Electricity Act of 2003 had been the statutory criterion which has determined and administered the laws regarding the generation, distribution, and trading of the produced electricity and the use of it while considering the interests of the federal departments, producers and consumers of electricity, framing the rules regulations to govern the crucial element of the power sector.

Need for the Amendment

To meet the challenges faced by the current society we live in, there was a dire need of amendments:

1. The original laws are obsolete and outdated and needs to be updated and relevant to the times we live in and the challenges there of.

2. There is an urgent need to focus and modify certain issues recurring over time and promoting additional mercantile impetus for the private parties to enter the market and merchandise the generation , distribution and transmission of electricity.

3. New measures to be implemented to alleviate financial crunches of the Discoms.

4. It was found to be necessary to encourage and foster legal and directorial ecosystem giving special and particular attention to renewable energy.

Salient Features of the Electricity Amendment Bill of 2020

 There has been various Amendments made in this drafted bill. But we shall look into the key Amendments:

● Policy Amendments:

1. Renewable Energy: The amendment in the bill recommends the Union to develop and notify regularly a National Renewable Energy Policy(NRE Policy) . Under the amendment proposed under section 86 (1) of the original Electricity Act the state commissions are under compulsion to follow the guidelines by the NRE and prescribe a minimum percentage for purchasing electricity from renewable and hydro power. Along with this comes a surety with a nominal percentage in the form of incentive for the producers.

2. Cross Border Trade: In 2(15(a)) of the Electricity Act  a mention of Cross Border Trade has been added. This will cover import and export of electricity from India to other countries. Including the transactions for the electricity in transit between the countries . The Union has been given the power to impose the guidelines to allow and assess Cross Border Trade under section 49 of the Amended Bill.

3. Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority (ECEA) : The Electricity Act 2003 although deals with various provisions relating to sale and purchase of electricity, although there are no specific provisions for power purchase agreements or PPAs to adjudicate matters relating to enforceability of these PPAs. The amendment proposes to set up a ECEA whose sole purpose is having authority and original jurisdiction of a specific performances, obligations under this contract relating to sale, purchase or transmission of electricity under section 109 of the Amended Bill.

ECEA must dispose of the cases within a period of 120 days from the date of receipt. It is mentioned in the draft that ECEA shall have similar power and jurisdiction as civil courts and appeals against orders of ECEA shall be heard by the Appellate Tribunal of Electricity (APTEL).

● Functional Amendments:

1. Payment Security: A sturdy and secure system to meet the lack of monitoring system which has created a void of check and balance for any form of payment security. Actions of this mechanism had created a pile of unpaid dues. The amendment proposes a mechanism where in “no electricity shall be scheduled dispatched under such contract unless adequate security payment as agreed upon by the parties to the contract has been provided”.

2. Grant of Subsidy Mandated: The Appropriate Commission shall determine the charges of the tariff as for the consumers and the benefits of the subsidy shall be granted directly to the consumers under section 62(1(d))The tariffs shall be determined on the basis of commission without accounting for subsidies.

3. Time for Adoption of Tariff so Determined: Although there had been attempts to determine the tariff, but they had been sluggish in nature causing a concern of cost escalation. To address the setback the amendment prescribed a 60-day period to accept the tariffs. Failure of such will result in acceptance of the tariff.

4. Codification of Responsibility of National Load Dispatch Centre: There has been insertion of new provisions giving responsibility to the National Load Dispatch Centre ( NLD Centre)authorising them to carry out real-time operation. Monitoring the national grid and administration and superintendence of the interstate and inter regional dispatch and network and grid security and ideal organisation and transmission of the electricity under 26 of the Amended Bill.

5. Inclusion of Distribution Sub-licensee and Franchise: The amendment bill proposes a distribution licences me with the permission granted by the State Commission can authorise a ‘person’ as “distribution licensee”, distributing electricity on its behalf in a specific territory within its area of supply. Although the original distribution license shall stay with the licensee and held responsible for ensuring the quality under section 2(17(a)).

6. Easing the Process of Recruiting Members of Adjudicating Bodies: The  existing act has provisions for multiple selection committee which are required to be constituted for appointment of:

● Members of the APTEL;

● Chairperson of Central Commission; and

● Members of State Commission.

The bill proposes a single selection committee for the appointments under section 78.

● Members of APTEL; and

● Chairperson and members of the ECEA, Central Commission, State Commission, Joint Commission.

Their qualifications are also mentioned under the section 77(1).

7. Applicability to Whole of India: This bill will be in motion and applicable to the whole territory of India of including the state of Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.

Conclusion:

The amendment Bill has provisions that can change the whole outlook of electricity laws in India. It will be a success if the Union passes the bill and herein becomes a law. It will be the start of a new regime and implementation of the law will be a challenge amidst of all the impending reforms but sure will transcend the obstacle and excel in the longer run.

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Copyright  is a certain kind of intellectual property protection guaranteed under the established law to the original creator’s work of authorship. This right is exclusively given to authors, composers etc for a certain time period to print ,publish and sell copies of his original work. 

The first Copyright Act was passed in India in the year of 1914 under the British rule and the Copyright Act that is presently in force was enacted in the year of 1957 and amended in the year of 1999. The rights of performers like musicians, actors, singers etc were not recognised by the Copyright Act for a long time. The amendment of 1994 introduced the rights of a performer calling them the performers rights under section 38 of the Copyright Act . This was done in order to protect the livelihood of the performers which was threatened by the technological changes.

Under section 2(gg) of the act performer includes an acrobat, musician, singer, juggler, snake charmer, a person delivering lecture or any other performer who makes a performance. Performance in relation to the performance right means any visual or asotic presentation made by one or more performers. 

RIGHTS OF A PERFORMER UNDER THE COPYRIGHT PROTECTION ACT: 

The performer has the exclusive right to do the following under the act:

1. PERFORMANCE RIGHT TO MAKE SOUND RECORDING OR VISUAL RECORDING OF THE PERFORMANCE:

According to section 1(xx) of the Copyright Protection Act, performer has a right to make sound recording or visual recording of his performance. The law also authorises him to record a live performance and he possesses an exclusive right to make sound recordings from such sounds maybe produced regardless of the medium on which such recording is made on method by which the sounds are produced. Besides only if the sound record is lawfully made the copyright shall subsist otherwise it does not if the recording may include any component that is an infringement of any literary, dramatic or musical work. 

The sound recordings and music works incorporating the music are considered to be two different subjects for copyright. The copyright of the music was entrusted with the composer while the copyright of the music recording is entrusted with the producer of the sound recording. While the composer has not written down the lyrics but he performs the song and records it ,two copyright simultaneously comes into existence; that is one is for the music and other for the recording. 

2. RIGHTS TO PRODUCE A SOUND RECORDING OR VISUAL RECORDING OF THE PERFORMANCE:

A performer has a right to produce a sound recording or visual recording of his performance according to the laws prescribed. He has the right to make copies of the recordings as well as issue copies of the recordings for the public or rent and lend the copies. But there are certain conditions which are to be displayed with the recordings:

a. A copy of certificate granted by the board of film certification;

b. The name and address of the owner of the copyright in such work; and 

c. The persons name and address who has made the film and a declaration by him that he has obtained the licence necessary or the owner’s consent of the copyright in the work for the making of the film. 

If the performer fails to comply with the aforementioned turns he can be punished under law and this conditions are mainly laid down to detect any sort of piracy .

3. RIGHT TO BROADCAST THE PERFORMANCE:

The performer has a right to prevent the broadcasting of their life performances. 

Broadcast means communication to the public (i) any means of wireless diffusion weather in any one or more of the forms of signs, sound and visual image or (ii) by wire and includes a rebroadcast. 

But in case of broadcast of any performance that may include literary, dramatic or musical works or records which contain independent copyright the consent of the copyright owners must be obtained by the broadcasting organisation.

The earliest cases  on Performer’s rights, owing to the non-recognition of Performer’s rights under the Indian copyright law, completely denied the existence of rights of Performers. In Fortune Films International v. Dev Anand [AIR 1979 Bom 17], the Honourable Supreme Court stated that an actor in a film has no rights over his performance in the film. 

However, this position changed in 1994 with the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 extending recognition to Performer’s Rights with the inclusion of Sections 38 and 39. In 2003, the Delhi High Court, in Super Cassettes Industries v. Bathla Cassette Industries [107 (2003) DLT 91], while establishing that performer’s rights were different from copyright, held that re-recording of a song without the authorization of original performer constituted an infringement of the performer’s rights. This decision marked an important step forward by the Indian judiciary, with respect to the recognition of Performer’s rights in India. 

As ‘performance’ under the Indian Copyright Act has been defined as any visual or acoustic presentation made live by one or more performers, the Delhi High Court, in Neha Bhasin v. Anand Raj Anand [2006 (32) PTC 779 Del.], addressed the question of what would constitute a ‘live performance’. The Court observed that “Every performance has to be live in the first instance whether it is before an audience or in a studio. If this performance is recorded and thereafter exploited without the permission of the performer, then the performer’s right is infringed.”

TERMS OF RIGHTS: 

Copyright protection in India generally extends for the life time of the author and 60 years after that, but for performance rights, the performer has the economic rights for 50 years after the start of the year following the performance. 

INFRINGEMENT OF PERFORMER’S RIGHTS :

 Under section 38 of the copyright protection at the performers rights are reinforced. The Act guarantees the performers rights and if they are violated without the consent of the performer he can sue for infringement of his rights. The certain provisions under which he can sue are are:

a. Sound recording or visual recording of the performance; or

b. Reproduction of the sound recording on visual recording on reproduction for the purposes different from those for which the performer give his consent;

c. Broadcasts the performance; and 

d. Communicate the performance to the public otherwise than by broadcast.

Although the above-mentioned acts can be said to be infringing the performers rights when they are committed during the continuance of the performers rights. 

Along with this there are certain acts which do not constitute infringement of performers rights. This actor mentioned under section 39  of the act. Those acts are as follows: 

i. Making of any sound recording or visual recording for private use of the person making such recording of society for the purpose of teaching and in good faith;

ii. Fair dealing of experts of a performance in reporting of current events in review in good faith;

iii. Other acts with any necessary adaptation and modifications which do not constitute infringement of copyright under section 52; and 

iv. Use of sound recording or visual recording of the performance in the course of the activities of an educational institute if the audience is limited to students, parents and guardians and the person directly connected with the activities of the institution under section 52(1(i)).

The acts mentioned above can be done only in cases of sound recording and visual recording and the purposes cannot be called infringement of the performers rights.

REMEDIES AGAINST INFRINGEMENT OF PERFORMERS RIGHTS :

the section 55 and section 63 270 of the copyright protection Act guarantees the following remedies in cases of infringement of the performers rights.

1. Civil remedies: The owner of the copyright or his assignee or his exclusive licensee may obtain (a) injunction or (b) claim damages.

2. Criminal remedies: The offence of infringement is punishable with imprisonment which may extend from a minimum period of 6 months to a maximum period of three years or with a fine of ordered rupees 50000 to 200000. 

3. Anton Pillar Order: In appropriate cases, the courts may an application by the plaintiff pass an ex parte order requiring the defendants to commit the plaintiff accompanied by solicitor autonomy to enter these premises and inspect relevant documents that officers and thereof is there off or remove them for safe custody. The necessity of such an order arises when there is a grave danger of relevant documents and infringement of articles that being removed or destroyed so that ends of justice is not defeated.

CONCLUSION:

We may conclude that copyright is a form of intellectual property right protection guaranteed under the law and the creators of the original works of authorship. The copyright law confers exclusive rights to performers like actors, musicians, dancers, acrobats, snake charmers etc to do certain acts. This right are guaranteed to them to encourage them in creating more creative content without the fear of any kind of piracy. 

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