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RIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! PRINCIPIUM OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY IN INDIA: AN UNDERSTANDING OF IPR REGIME

February 15, 2024

*Ms. Shipra Dumka

INTRODUCTION

Animation in India has its relevance since Indus Valley civilization, from pottery to terracotta figures and in the twenty-first century via Computer-generated imagery (CGI) it has influenced in discrete forms over the course of time. The animation roots in India can be traced from the works of Mr. Ram Mohan who is popularly known to be the father of Indian animators. The first Indian animated film was Banyan Deer (1957) since then the animation industry has been booming after Japanese filmmakers along with Sako & Ram Mohan who instituted the famous movie “The Legend of Prince Rama”- Ramayana which received outstanding performance and supporting reviews. With time, the effect of 2D and 3D animation movies started expanding in India with a wider scope and with fewer statutory provisions in Indian law. Currently, the legal protection of animation is governed under Intellectual Property Rights extensively by the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, the Trademark Act, 1999 and Indian Patent Act, 1970.

Today, India is making a remarkable transformation through its digital advancement. The rise of OTT platforms is delivering more spices and spike to the industry, in addition to the advent of recent technologies such as Motion Capture (3D), Virtual Production, and Artificial intelligence, D5 Render is one among the popular tool that most engineers, architecture, and construction industry use for photo-realistic images in their projects. The main issue that arises in animation is ownership, and due to its dynamic nature, it is seen in many situations that IP laws are said to be inconsistent with current technological advancement.

PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE ANIMATION LAW IN INDIA

With the advent of the new technology animation got further enhanced with the introduction of “Bambi” (1957) which was produced by Walt Disney Productions. Clair Week who worked on popular movies like Bambi, Snow white and Peter and Pan came to India on the invitation to establish a technical cooperation agenda in India. Since then, the industry, due to this technical training, produced the first animated production film popularly known as “The Banyan Deer (1957)” as discussed above, through which the animation industry began its technological traces. The reports of FICCI in the year 2017 stated that the VFX industry grew by 16.4% whereas the animation industry grew by 9%. The law which regulates the animation industry in India is mainly through Copyright Act, of 1957. The copyright covers the pictorial content which protects the animated work plus the work if converted into cinematographic work, then a different set of copyright laws is applied. The characters and actions in the animated movie are protected.

Since 2018 there has been an urgent need for the protection of IP. New fascinating characters and brands were introduced in the animation industry from “Jumbo” an animated movie that was released in the year 2008 and made a thrilling impact on the growth of the animation industry. The humming of the song “Jungle Jungle pata Chala hai” or “Mai hoon Ghatothkach” has become extremely popular, which is a piece of evidence that animation has come a long way. Animation is all about creating innovative output from the mind the classic examples of it were the trendiest movie like Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, Brahmastra (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan PS-2, the Indian VFX and animation industry is expected to reach a CAGR of 25% and an estimated market value of INR 190 billion by 2025. The future of the industry is groundbreaking with unpredictable affirmative output. The simple question is whether these works are protected under the IPR regime? The answer is YES. The legal framework of protection of the animation lies under the Copyright Act under the following headings:

Literary and Artistic work:

The work must contain a picture along with it the work can represent script, dialogues, and characteristics content for its protection under the Copyright Act of India.

Cinematographic and sound recordings:

In this purview, the area covers advertisements, images in motion, variable soundtrack, and trailers of the animation.

Ancillary Rights:

These rights originate from the primary work and incorporate merchandising, adaptions, and publishing in the work. For instance, Character and Transmission Rights.

Moreover, Section 14 of the Copyright Act covers the meaning of copyright, and under its purview owner has the exclusive right including the owner of a computer program to communicate the work to the public for which the animation industry has various protections. For example: the animator of Bheem’s cartoon through his innovative work can sell and distribute his work and upon its infringement can sue the other person. Sections 18 and 30 of the Copyright Act covers Assignment and License. Through this provision, the independent animator is awarded the bundle of rights and can assign the work or license a work to the production company and receive a royalty. As the industry is booming at an alarming rate there is a need for development in the IPR regimes as character development, recent technology provisions are lacking in the legislation.

TRADEMARK LAW AND ANIMATION:

Section 2 of the Trademark Act, 1999 clearly states that the logos should be distinct in animations like cartoon characters, names, and cartoon logos can be protected. The act extends its purview by additionally protecting the character’s name and its likeness. However, registration is not mandatory, but it adds the perk in terms of providing substantial protection and rights. In the Disney Enterprise Inc & Anr v. Gurcharan Batra & Ors, 2006, the court held that selling similar school bags that are not distinct and have similarities with the plaintiff characters like Mickey, and Minnie Mouse which is an infringement of the rights under the law. Through the way of motion marks Sec 2 (1) (zb) of the Trademark Act, the animation can be protected as it extends to the movement or change in the position of the element of the mark. The credentials for motion marks are that it should be unique, and recognizable by the public. The famous instances of the motion mark are as follows: Yahoo Yodel, Sony’s “Make Believe motion trademark logo’, and Lamborghini’s car door motion. In India, pugnacious corporations like Nokia and Toshiba registered their trademark i.e., the red, blue abstract motion mark in 2019. The Trademark law through its statutory protection is opening up new horizontals for future transformations like branding of business through VFX but which needs more enhancement to promote international branding of the trademark in the animation realm.

OTT PLATFORMS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

The on-the-top (OTT) platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime have revolutionized since the COVID pandemic as people have been using more online platforms to access entertainment modes in OTT platform evidencing such huge involvement of public it is foreseeing blooming. A production company that takes up license and co-production deals with the broadcasters work who take charge of the content for example Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies made a deal with Netflix for producing the projects as well and the Dharmatic collaborated with Netflix for the production of its project. The infringement of the OTT platform comes under the Copyright Act under Sec 2(m) which explicitly tells about the infringing copies. The term for its protection is also mentioned i.e., 60 years under the Copyright Act under Sections 26, 27, and 29 of the Copyright Act, 1957. Furthermore, the statutory provisions in India are inaugurating the expectations of the animation industry in India but the laws of India should also have the open room for new facets emerging in the field of animation industry.

Conclusion

“Animation is about creating an illusion of life” humankind has given rise to such pictures and movements which are now governing every corner of the world with such a profound influence. Exigence protection is provided for spreading network that is the reason IPR is catering to the need and development for the animation law in India. The future is all digital wherein the IP law will play a crucial role in fostering the right and ensuring protection to technological advancement. The scope of IP has wider applicability and can lead to substantial development of the animation Industry in coming future in India. Thereby, protection regime has to be stronger in order to foster growth of such industry. There can be a development in the marketing and merchandising to tap into the creditability from this sector. Under the Copyright Act, of 1957, the arena of the subject matter can be commercially exploited very easily so the core attention should be the development of the IP law which can protect the interest of the owner and bestow the rights in the contemporary world.

References:
  1. ET Contributors, Indian Animation and VFX industry is getting bigger and better, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, (last visited Sep. 17, 2023, 10:07AM) http://m.economictimes.com.
  2. Meril Mathew et al, Animation and it’s Protection under Copyright, MONDAQ, (last visited Sep.17, 2023 at 12:09 PM) https://www.mondaq.com.
  3. Hansa Mondal, Golden era for the animation and VFX industry in India, TIMES OF INDIA, (last visited Sep. 20, 2023 at 4:56 PM) https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
  4. The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012, No. 13, Acts of Parliament, 2012 (India).
  5. Disney Enterprise Inc & Anr v. Gurcharan Batra & Ors, (2006) S.C.C 607.
Author:

*Ms. Shipra Dumka
LLM(IPR) Student, Alliance University, Bangalore.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of the Alliance Centre for Intellectual Property Rights(ACIPR) and the Centre does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.