Kshitij Malhotra
Image via Wikipedia
In a recent decision that has ramifications on free distribution of online content, the Delhi High court has passed an ex-parte interim injunction against two websites for carrying and forwarding articles published by Hindustan Times (HT) Media Group. The websites: www.legalpundits.com, andwww.editorialjunction.com, were allegedly found to have been picking news items from HT’s online portals. Further, the websites were found to be forwarding the content to the public without any consent, authorisation or licence of the content owner, HT media group, and that too for financial considerations.
It is reported that HT media group had moved to the court through Saikrishna Rajgopal of Saikrishna and Associates, against the websites on grounds of copyright infringement, trademark violation and unfair trade practice. HT Media also reportedly claimed damages of INR 20 lakh from Legalpundits, and 50 lakh INR from the website editorialjunction in the complaint.
The above order warrants extra care and precaution from website, database and blog owners, while using online contents sourced from third party websites. The repercussions of any unauthorized use of contents can create problems, especially when the use is for financial gains or benefits. Also, this acknowledges the importance of always mentioning and crediting the third party in contents generated using third party material. At least, mentioning and crediting the third party source acknowledges the original authors, thereby mitigating conflicts. Further, it should be understood that the basis of copyright laws is to protect “expression of an idea”.
Accordingly, re-expression of contents, sourced from third party sources, in own language always helps in reducing chances of copyright infringement.
Also, I haven’t been able to retrieve the copy of the above order from Delhi HC website. If some one has the copy of the order, please forward the copy to kmalhotra1901@gmail.com
And, before I forget, source of the above update is none other than Hindustan Times.
Pingback: Online Copyright Violation – Rap Their Knuckles, and Rap Em’ Hard | India Law and Technology Blog
Pingback: Online Copyright Violation – Rap Their Knuckles, and Rap Em’ Hard | GaMeXTRM