LawZ Magazine - January 2017

In this issue

Recognising the growing copyright field in law, we celebrate the first issue of 2017 with special emphasis on Consumerism and Copyright Protection.

Consumers are largely denied their due rights, especially in developing countries such as India. The consumers are spread widely all over a country and many are poor, illiterate and are generally not aware of their rights, though their awareness has recently increased. The manufacturers and suppliers of goods or services often exploit consumers by adopting a number of unfair and restrictive trade practices. They often merge and also form tacit cartels to raise prices for maximising their profits at the expense of consumers. These unfair practices call for stricter laws and regulations on consumer protection.

Copyright protection is conferred on all original work. Original means, that the work has not been copied from any other source. Copyright protection commences the moment a work is created, and its registration is optional. Copyright registration does not confer any rights and is merely a prima facie proof of an entry in respect of the work in the Copyright Register maintained by the Registrar of Copyrights. However, in the recent age of newer streams of technology and types of copyrights, the law is needed to be constantly checked and kept up with time.

Today, our main concern is not “how we play media files but where it comes from and what we do with it.” Challenges are huge before the lawmakers to legislate and regulate the P2P file sharing over the network. P2P has created a very easy way of sharing files over the internet and downloading without concerning about the incentives and royalties of the creator. But is this easier way of streaming media really against the law?