Programme
Access to Knowledge
Copyright, patents and Indian-language Wikimedia projects. 1,320 items.
4 Oct 2011
Blog post
CIS-TWN Analysis of WIPO Treaty for the Print Disabled (SCCR/22/15)CIS and the Third World Network (TWN) conducted a quick analysis of the "Consensus document on an international instrument on limitations and exceptions for persons with print disabilities presented by Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, …
14 Sep 2011
News
Copyrights Amendment Bill to Be Tabled in Indian Parliament – Parallel Import provisions have Been RemovedThis week, the Indian government’s Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Parliament) will debate the Copyright Amendments Act.
9 Sep 2011
Blog post
Calling Out the BSA on Its BSThe Business Software Alliance (BSA) is trying to pull wool over government officials' eyes by equating software piracy with tax losses. Pranesh Prakash points out how that argument lacks cogency, and that tax losses would be better averted …
2 Sep 2011
Blog post
Photocopying the pastThere is no single correct position when it comes to intellectual property or IP. In fact, there are at least five correct positions that you could possibly adopt based on who you are — a pro-creator position, a pro-entrepreneur position, a …
30 Aug 2011
Blog post
Govt for Legalising Parallel Import of Copyright Works; Publishers OpposeSection 2(m) legalises the parallel imports of books and other copyrighted material into India and was part of the initial Copyright Amendment Bill introduced in the Parliament of India in 2010.
30 Aug 2011
Blog post
Copyright Amendment Bill in ParliamentThe Copyright Amendment Bill is expected to be presented in the Rajya Sabha by the Minister for Human Resource and Development, Kapil Sibal today afternoon. The much awaited Bill (since it has been in the offing since 2006) has undergone …
8 Jul 2011
Blog post
Don't Shoot the Messenger: Speech on Intermediary Liability at 22nd SCCR of WIPOThis is a speech made by Pranesh Prakash at an side-event co-organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Internet Society on intermediary liability, to coincide with the release of Prof. Lillian Edwards's …
22 Jun 2011
Blog post
Statement of CIS, India, on the WIPO Broadcast Treaty at the 22nd SCCRThe twenty-second session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights is being held in Geneva from June 15 to June 24, 2011. Nirmita Narasimhan and Pranesh Prakash are attending the conference. CIS delivered its statement, on …
17 Jun 2011
Blog post
Putting a Lid on Royalty Outflows — How the RBI can Help Reduce India's IP CostsWhile entrepreneurs, IP rights-holders and everyone else who has a stake continue to voice their opinions on the appropriate shape that the Indian IP regime ought to take, they tend to narrow their discussions to the language of substantive …
17 May 2011
Blog post
Consumers International IP Watchlist 2011 — India ReportPranesh Prakash prepared the India Report for the Consumers International IP Watchlist 2011. The report was published on the A2K Network website.
21 Mar 2011
Blog post
Comments to the Ministry on WIPO Broadcast Treaty (March 2011)As a follow up to a stakeholder meeting called by the MHRD on the WIPO Broadcast Treaty, CIS provided written comments on the April 2007 Non-Paper of the WIPO Broadcast Treaty, emphasising the need for a signal-based approach to be taken on …
9 Mar 2011
Blog post
Pirates, Plagiarisers, PublishersThis article attempts to rescue not by denying the charges of plagiarism, but by charting an alternative trajectory of plagiarism so that each successive instance does not amplify our sense of embarrassment and crisis in the academy. The …
25 Feb 2011
Blog post
Exhaustion: Imports, Exports and the Doctrine of First Sale in Indian Copyright LawThis article by Pranesh Prakash was published in the Manupatra Intellectual Property Reports, February 2011, Volume 1, Part 2, pp. 149-160. In this short note, the author argues that Indian courts have fundamentally misunderstood the …
11 Feb 2011
Blog post
Thomas Abraham's Rebuttal on Parallel ImportationWe engaged in an e-mail conversation with Thomas Abraham, the managing director of Hachette India, on the issue of parallel importation of books into India. We thought it would be in the public interest to publish a substantive part of that …
1 Feb 2011
Blog post
Indian Law and "Parallel Exports"Recently, a lawyer for the publishing industry made the claim that allowing for parallel importation would legally allow for the exports of low-priced edition. Here we present a legal rebuttal of that claim.
25 Jan 2011
Blog post
Why Parallel Importation of Books Should Be AllowedThere has been much controversy lately with some publishers trying to stop the government from amending s.2(m) of the Indian Copyright Act, clarifying that a parallel import will not be seen as an "infringing copy". This blog post argues …
12 Jan 2011
Blog post
New Release of IPR Chapter of India-EU Free Trade AgreementA draft of the IPR chapter of the EU-India FTA, made publicly available now for the first time, provides insight into India's response in July 2010 to several EU proposals on intellectual property protection and enforcement.
16 Dec 2010
Blog post
Problems Remain with Standing Committee's Report on Copyright AmendmentsThe Rajya Sabha Standing Committee on Human Resource Development (under which ministry copyright falls) recently tabled their report on the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010 before Parliament. There is much to be applauded in the report, …
5 Dec 2010
Blog post
CIS Submission on Draft Patent Manual 2010The patent office has released a revised version of the Draft Manual of Patent Practice and Procedure. Section 8.03.06.10 of the Manual deals with patenting of computer programmes. CIS is happy to note the many improvements in this draft of …
23 Nov 2010
Blog post
Statement of CIS on the Work of the Committee in the 21st SCCRThe twenty-first session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights was held in Geneva from 8 to 12 November 2010. Nirmita Narasimhan attended the conference and represented the Centre for Internet and Society.
13 Nov 2010
Blog post
We’ve All Got Some BaggageAmerica’s newest trade agreement is not going to kill only iPods. The article appeared in the Tehelka Magazine Vol 7, Issue 45, Dated November 13, 2010
23 Oct 2010
2 Sep 2010
Blog post
Seminar on Software Patent and the CommonsA pre-grant opposition has been filed against a software patent application filed in the patent office by Certicom, a wholly owned subsidiary of Research in Motion (RIM), manufacturers of Blackberry. The opposition was filed on August 31, …
24 Aug 2010
Blog post
The Bilski Case - Impact on Software PatentsThe Supreme Court of the United States gave its decision in Bilski v Kappos on 28 June, 2010. In this case the petitioners’ patent application sought protection for a claimed invention that explains how commodities buyers and sellers in the …
24 Aug 2010
Blog post
First Post-Bilski Decision - Software Patent RejectedIn the first decision post-Bilski, the Board of Patents Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) rejected a software patent claimed by Hewlett-Packard. The ruling in this case has buttressed the fact that the Bilski decision furthered the cause of …
20 Aug 2010
Blog post
Privacy and the Indian Copyright Act, 1857 as Amended in 2010In this post the author examines the issue of privacy in light of the Indian Copyright Act, 1857 as amended by the Copyright Amendment Bill in 2010. Four key questions are examined in detail and the author gives suitable recommendations for …
18 Jul 2010
Blog post
Analysis of the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010CIS analyses the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010, from a public interest perspective to sift the good from the bad, and importantly to point out what crucial amendments should be considered but have not been so far.
13 Jul 2010
Blog post
A Guide to Key IPR Provisions of the Proposed India-European Union Free Trade AgreementThe Centre for Internet and Society presents a guide for policymakers and other stakeholders to the latest draft of the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement, which likely will be concluded by the end of the year and may hold serious …
14 May 2010
Blog post
The 2010 Special 301 Report Is More of the Same, Slightly Less ShrillPranesh Prakash examines the numerous flaws in the Special 301 from the Indian perspective, to come to the conclusion that the Indian government should openly refuse to acknowledge such a flawed report. He notes that the Consumers …
13 May 2010
Blog post
Exceptions and Limitations in Indian Copyright Law for Education: An AssessmentThis paper examines the nature of exceptions and limitations in copyright law for the purposes of the use of copyrighted materials for education. It looks at the existing national and international regime, and argues for why there is a need …