Media & Entertainment Laws

Assistance in the Area of Media & Entertainment Laws

Media & Press in India has been given freedom but subject to certain reasonable restriction imposed by the Constitution of India, 1950. Before the impact of globalisation was felt, the mass media was wholly controlled by the government, which let the media project only what the government wanted the public to see and in a way in which it wanted the public to see it. However, with the onset of globalisation and privatisation, the situation has undergone a humongous change. Before the invention of communication satellites, communication was mainly in the form of national media, both public and private, in India and abroad. Then came 'transnational media' with the progress of communication technologies like Satellite delivery and ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), the outcome: local TV, global films and global information systems.

The major legislations in the Area of Media, Communication & Entertainment laws are:

  1. The Broadcasting Code
  2. Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995
  3. The Cinematograph Act, 1952
  4. The Copyright Act, 1957
  5. Cine Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1981
  6. Cine Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1981 and the Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act 1981
  7. The Bombay Police Act, 1951 – It contains provisions empowering the police to regulate the exhibition of films in the state of Maharashtra (formerly Bombay)
  8. Bombay Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1953
  9. The Bombay Entertainments Duty Act, 1923
  10. The Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867
  11. The Press (Objectionable Matters) Act, 1951
  12. The Newspaper (Prices and Pages) Act, 1956
  13. Defence of India Act, 1962
  14. Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act, 1954
  15. The Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1955
  16. Civil Defence Act, 1968
  17. Press Council Act, 1978
  18. Drug and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954
  19. Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969
  20. Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003

SERVICES :

Our industry experience and broader corporate knowledge enables us to work with clients in all aspects of the media, mostly legal advisory and drafting of specialized and wide-ranging agreements viz.:

  • Programming and rights acquisition agreements
  • Copyright Assignments
  • Movie Rights Assignments
  • Territorial Rights Assignments
  • Licensing and other issues related to operation of conditional access systems channel and service providers
  • Surrogate Advertising
  • Musical Band Formation Contracts and Agreements
  • Rights of the respective members of the band, trade marks and copyrights.
  • Rights of Music and Sports Agents.
  • Rights of Music Publishers
  • Producing And Recording Rights & Agreements
  • Music Producer Agreements
  • Music Recording Agreements
  • Legal Advice & vetting & drafting of Agreements with Music Artist, Music Recording Label and Musical Bands.
  • Legal issues concerning Royalties, Sampling and Copyright of music and lyrics
  • Registration of Trade Marks and copyrights.