formative assessment- assignment a_media laws & ethics ready

21
Assignment Assessment Report Campus: Pune Year/semester 1 st Year, Semester- I, 2015 Level: Assignment Type Module Name: Media Laws and Ethics Assessor’s Name Jai Deshmukh. Student’s Name: Given on 15. 11. 2015 e-mail id & Mob No Actual Submission Date 11/01/2016 Stream Media Submitted to : Certificate by the Student: Plagiarism is a serious College offence. I certify that this is my own work. I have referenced all relevant materials. (Student’s Name/Signatures) Expected Outcomes Assessment Criteria Grade based on D,M,P,R system Feedback General Parameters Clarity Clear understanding of the concept Analytical Thinking- Ability to analyze the problem realistically Research Done- Research carried out to solve the problem Formatting & Presentation- Concise & clear thinking along with presentation Subject Specific Parameters To comprehend the current status of ‘Freedom of Press’ in India Elucidating the treatment of the ‘Freedom of Press’ in India

Upload: sommaya-singh

Post on 11-Apr-2017

157 views

Category:

Documents


3 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

Assignment Assessment Report

Campus: Pune Year/semester 1st Year, Semester- I, 2015Level: Assignment Type

Module Name: Media Laws and Ethics Assessor’s Name Jai Deshmukh.

Student’s Name: Given on 15. 11. 2015e-mail id & Mob No Actual Submission Date 11/01/2016Stream Media Submitted to :

Certificate by the Student:Plagiarism is a serious College offence.I certify that this is my own work. I have referenced all relevant materials.

(Student’s Name/Signatures)

Expected Outcomes Assessment Criteria Grade based on D,M,P,R

system

Feedback

General Parameters

Clarity Clear understanding of the concept

Analytical Thinking- Ability to analyze the problem realistically

Research Done- Research carried out to solve the problem

Formatting & Presentation-

Concise & clear thinking along with presentation

Subject Specific ParametersTo comprehend the current status of ‘Freedom of Press’ in India

Elucidating the treatment of the ‘Freedom of Press’ in India

To demonstrate the role and functions of ‘Press Council of India’

Elucidating the PCI structure, functions and giving examples

To comprehend the importance of Copyright issues

Describing what constitute copyright infringement

To demonstrate the ability to identify what leads to copyright violation

Stating sample news reports on copyright infringement

To comprehend the prominence of Contempt of Court, Cable TV and Official Secrets regulations on Press/ Media

Stating a brief yet detailed note on the particular regulations

To comprehend the Defining

Page 2: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

law against the disparagement of someone’s reputation

Defamation and to explain the same under IPC 499/ 500

Grades Grade Descriptors Achieved Yes/No (Y / N)P A Pass grade is achieved by meeting all the requirements defined.M Identify & apply strategies/techniques to find appropriate solutionsD Demonstrate convergent, lateral and creative thinking.

Assignment Grading Summary (To be filled by the Assessor)OVERALL ASSESSMENT GRADE:

TUTOR’S COMMENTS ONASSIGNMENT:

SUGGESTED MAKE UP PLAN (applicable in case the student is asked to re-do the assignment)

REVISED ASSESSMENT GRADE

TUTOR’S COMMENT ON REVISED WORK (IF ANY)

Date: Assessor’s Name / Signatures:

YOUR TASKS 1

Discuss two cases pertaining to

1) RIGHT TO INFORMATION - DEMANDED AND FURNISHED 2) OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT – as applied against any person

YOUR TASKS 2

Write a note on : the treatment of Freedom of Press in India. Enumerate the reasonable restrictions imposed by Article

19 (2) with examples in Indian context. Copyright? Explain Copyright Act, 1957. What constitute the infringement of Copyright?Throw light

on the Copyright Infringement Cases in India by giving sample news reports in the area of Art, Music, Films, Automobile etc. (Min 8)

Elaborate on the ‘Law of Defamation’. State the difference between Libel and Slander. Explain the concept of defamation in the background of Section 499/ 500 of the Indian Penal Code.

CASES PERTAINING

Page 3: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

1.Right To Information

Salman Khan’s Hit and Run case

A RTI query has revealed that the Maharashtra government does not have any papers on actor Salman Khan’s 2002 hit-and-run case as the files pertaining to it were gutted in a fire at Mantralaya.The RTI activist had sought to know from the State Law and Judiciary department the names and the total number of counsels, solicitors, advocates and legal advisors, public prosecutors appointed by the State government for this case.

The RTI reply informed that the files pertaining to the case were burnt on June 21, 2012, when a fire engulfed the State Secretariat and therefore, they cannot be made available. To a query on total expenses incurred by the State government in the case from 2002 to May 6, 2015 , when the judgment was pronounced in the case.

2. IIM’s Admission Criteria: Vaishnavi Kasturi a visually-impaired student, in 2007 was denied a seat in the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, one of the country’s premier management institutes – despite her impressive score at the entrance examination. Ms. Kasturi wanted to know why, and wondered whether it was because of her physical disability. She filed an RTI application to request the institute to disclose their selection process. Although she failed to gain admission to the institute, her RTI application meant that IIM had to make its admission criteria public. It emerged that the entrance exam, the Common Admission Test, actually mattered little compared to Class 10 and 12 results.

Page 4: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

2.Officials Secret Agency Cases

1. Iftikhar Gilani case

 The New Delhi bureau chief for the Jammu-based newspaper Kashmir Times and a regular contributor to the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, as well as to the Pakistani newspapers The Friday Times and The Nation.

Police accused Gilani of possessing classified documents and arrested him under the provisions of India's Official Secrets Act, a draconian law that is a legacy of British colonial rule. On June 10, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sangita Dhingra Sehgal ordered Gilani back to police custody for five days.

The only evidence against him cited by the government so far is a public document released in 1995 by Pakistan's Foreign Ministry that includes information about alleged human rights abuses committed by Indian troops in Kashmir, according to R.M. Tufail, his lawyer. India and Pakistan have competing claims of sovereignty over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

Gilani's detention coincided with the arrest the same day of his father-in-law, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a senior separatist leader in Kashmir.

Page 5: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

2.Abhishek Verma case

Abhishek Verma, defence middleman and conman extraordinaire. Currently languishing in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since 9 June 2012, he is someone without whom no defence deal would be complete.

With their names resurfacing in the ongoing AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, Verma, 44, and his Romanian wife Anca Maria Neacsu, who have been in Tihar for the past 10 months, find themselves under scrutiny once again. Though Verma’s involvement in the chopper scam is yet to be established, investigating agencies are leaving nothing to chance and probing every aspect of the deal.

So what went wrong for this high flier? A land deal gone sour with one-time business partner and US attorney C Edmont Allen turned the tables on him. The partners fell apart after a Greater Noida land deal went wrong. After much bickering, Allen was saddled with a liability of Rs 1 crore. The CBI also investigated the roles of senior Congressman Jagdish Tytler and his fashion designer son Siddhartha in connection with this deal.

In 2012, Verma filed a criminal suit against Allen in the US for damages accrued in the said land deal in the Yamuna Expressway. This led to perhaps one of the most rocky chapters in Verma’s life. Allen felt he was being swindled of both land and money (the allotment was scrapped by the authorities and a fine was imposed on Ganton, the firm Allen owned), made a complaint to Indian authorities and started sending incriminating documents to investigating agencies, including the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Allen alleged these documents were given to him by Verma and contained classified communication between Defence Minister AK Antony and various firms about defence outlays. The documents, he said, also contained minutes of meetings where defence acquisition plans were discussed.

Page 6: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

FREEDOM OF PRESS IN INDIA

The Freedom of the Press is nowhere mentioned in the Indian constitution. The Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression is provided in Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. It is believed that Freedom of Speech and Expression in Article 19 of the Indian constitution include freedom of the press. Freedom of expression enables one to express one’s own voices as well as those of others. But freedom of the press must be subject to those restrictions which apply to the freedom of speech and expression. The restrictions mentioned in Art. 19 are defamation, contempt of court, decency or morality, security of the state, friendly relations with other states, incitement to an offence, public order and maintenance of the sovereignty and integrity of India.

The status of freedom of the press is the same as that of an ordinary citizen. The press cannot claim any immunity from taxation, is subject to the same laws regulating industrial relations, and press employees are subject to the same laws regulating industrial employment. Again, the press enjoys normal freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 19 of Indian Constitution. Hence no law can be passed to abridge its freedom of expression, cannot be subjected to excessive or prohibitive burdens to curtail its circulation and cannot be subjected to specific tax deliberately imposed to limit circulation of information. In gist, the constitution does not grant any power to the government to impose arbitrary restrictions on the press. Politicians in power often feel very tempted to pass laws restricting press freedom, to withhold information likely to generate unfavorable reactions among the people.

In 1976, during the emergency, the Parliament enacted the Prevention of Publication of Objectionable Matter Act. The Janata Government in 1978 repealed the Act. However, the

Page 7: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

44th amendment adopted in 1978 has given the Parliament substantial powers to regulate press freedom. A new article, Art 361A has been added to the constitution with this object in view.The censorship of the Press is a very crucial and sensitive issue in every democracy. In general press censorship is regarded as very unhealthy check on the freedom of free expression of views. In India, the constitution does not specifically forbid press censorship. Hence only check on the state in resorting to censorship is that it should be reasonable. Even this check on the government was not there before the 1st amendment of the constitution in 1951. But in two cases, Brij Bhusan vs. the State of Delhi and Ramesh Thapar vs. State of Madras, the Supreme Court held that censorship imposes obvious restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. After the last amendment, censorship is permitted if it is reasonable and if it is called for in the interest of public order.

Thus the present position is censorship is valid in times of emergency if it is reasonable and if in the interest of public order. In times of emergency under Art 352 censorship is valid when Art 19 itself stands suspended under Art 358 of the constitution.

Global Press freedom Index

Page 8: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

Reasonable restrictions imposed by Article 19(2) with Indian context

Article 19(2) of the Indian constitution enables the legislature to impose certain restrictions on free speech under following heads.

I. security of the State,

II. friendly relations with foreign States,

III. public order,

IV. decency and morality,

V. contempt of court,

VI. defamation,

VII. incitement to an offence, and

VIII. sovereignty and integrity of India.

Security of the State: Reasonable restrictions can be imposed on the freedom of speech and expression, in the interest of the security of the State. All the utterances intended to endanger the security of the State by crimes of violence intended to overthrow the government, waging of war and rebellion against the government, external aggression or war, etc.

Friendly relations with foreign States: This ground was added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act of 1951. The State can impose reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression, if it tends to endanger the friendly relations of India with other State.

Public order: This ground was added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951 in order to meet the situation arising from the Supreme Court's decision. The expression 'public order' connotes the sense of public peace.

Decency and Morality: According to it is seen 'whether the tendency of the matter charged as obscene tend to deprave and corrupt the minds which are open to such immoral influences'.

Contempt Of Court:, The constitutional right to freedom of speech would not allow a person to contempt the courts. The expression Contempt of Court has been defined Section 2 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.

Defamation : The Article 19 prevents any person from making any statement that injures the reputation of another. With the same view, defamation has been criminalized in India by inserting it into Section 499 of the I.P.C.

Page 9: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

Incitement to an offense: The Constitution also prohibits a person from making any statement that incites people to commit offense.

Sovereignty and integrity of India: This is aimed to prohibit anyone from making the statements that challenge the integrity and sovereignty of India.

Page 10: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

Copyright and Copyright Act 1957

Legal right ,given to the originator for a fixed number of years to print,publish,perform this right is known as Copyright.

Copyright Act 1957

Page 11: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

INDIAN COPYRIGHT ACT, 1957 Copyright Act states that a work shall be published or performed in public, onlywith the license of the owner of the copyright. In the case of a work of joint authorship, the conditionsconferring copyright specified in this sub-section shall be satisfied by all the authors of thework. Copyright is defined as the exclusive right:

(a) In the case of a literary, dramatic or musical work,· to reproduce the work in any medium· to issue copies· to perform in public· to translate;· to adapt;

(b) In the case of a computer programme,-· to do any of the acts specified in clause (a)· to sell or rent

(c) In the case of an artistic work,-· to do any of the acts specified in clause (a)· to reproduce the work in different dimensions

(d) In the case of a cinematograph film,-· to make photographs from the original· to sell or rent· to communicate the film to the public;

(e) In the case of a sound recording-

Page 12: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

· to make any other sound recording embodying it;· to sell or rent· to communicate the sound recording to the public.

Infringement of Copyright Act

Any person who without a license obtained from either the owner of the work or the Registrar of Copyrights, who permits any place for communication of a copyrighted material for profit, knowing that it is an infringement, hires, rents, sells or buys or except for personal use is a violation of copyright.The following are some of the commonly known acts involving infringement of copyright:

Making infringing copies for sale or hire or selling or letting them for hire; Permitting any place for the performance of works in public where such

performance constitutes infringement of copyright; Distributing infringing copies for the purpose of trade or to such an extent so as

to affect prejudicially the interest of the owner of copyright ; Public exhibition of infringing copies by way of trade; and Importation of infringing copies into India.

Infringement cases in India

1.Case of copyright infringement by Zee Khana Khazana:

Khana Khazana is a popular show aired on Zee Network.  It also has a page on Facebook that goes by the name ‘ZeeKhanaKhazana’ The page is said to be dedicated to food, and recently it was found that they are also regularly stealing photographs from food bloggers and websites for their features.

Sensing the agitation, the show, and in some cases Facebook, removed the posts containing the stolen photographs. then they made an apology:

Page 13: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

2.Guruji.com vs T-series

The action was initiated by music label T-Series whose music catalogue was allegedly exploited by the website Guruji.com. T-Series VP digital content Neeraj Kalyan says, “Guruji.com was infringing our copyright under the garb of a search engine”. The website was working in nexus with some music pirate websites and was exploiting our content. T-Series president- marketing media publishing (TV) Vinod Bhanushali states, Guruji.com has been using our catalogue, the pirated website works on a non-investment model and used content from other pirate websites.

3. Espn Star Sports vs Global Broadcast News Ltd.

This case was related to Satellite broadcasting right. It has been said rights are recognized throughout the world as independent rights as held in Raj Video Vision v. M/s Sun TV, 1994 , Madras Law Weekly 158 which has also been approved in AA Associates versus Prem Goel. A similar view has been taken in M/s Video Master v. M/s Nishi Productions, 1998.It was the violation of section 13 and 14 of Copyright Act 1957.

4. Jagdish Prasad Gupta vs Parmeshwar Prasad Singh.

The complainant was examined, on solemn affirmation in each case on 11-12-1962 and the Sub-divisional Magistrate by his order dated 11-12-1962 in each case directed Sri J.P. Srivastava, Magistrate first class, to enquire and report by 3-1-1963. The said Magistrate

Page 14: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

having been posted at Dinapure, the enquiry was entrusted in each case to another Magistrate Mr. A.N. Prasad. Mr. A.N. Prasad made an enquiry and submitted separate reports dated 28-2-1963 in each case to the effect that a first hand evidence case under Section 63 of the Copyright Act was made out against the accused of each case and they should be summoned and put on trial.

He then proceeded to find out as to whether a prima facie case for summoning the accused persons was made out. He held that the question papers of the Bihar School Examination Board as produced in each case were original literary works within the meaning of Section 13 of the Copyright Act, 1957. His other conclusion in each case was that the authors of those question papers had copyright but not the Bihar School Examination Board and the petitioner and as such the petitioner had no focus stand for filing these complaints. This finding has been seriously commented upon and contested by learned counsel for the petitioner in these cases.

5. Camlin Pvt. Ltd. vs National Pencil Industries

Charles Walker & Co. Ltd. v. The British 'Picker Co. Ltd., wherein .it was said that there was a copyright in a label. In that case, it was contended by counsel for the plaintiff company that "the Walker label is an artistic work within the meaning of Section 3 of the Copyright Act". Justice Pennycuick, who, decided the case, said that the label was an artistic work. He found "that label is admittedly an engraving, the design and layout of the label seems to me to be sufficiently distinctive to merit the description "original" within the meaning of Section 3".

6. Barbara Taylor Bradford vs Sahara Media Entertainment

The interview mentions that the serial has taken the rags to riches theme of the book. It mentions some four other characters common to the serial and the book. Sabir not having read the book, thinks that Emma of the book had an illegitimate son. She had one (or two) illegitimate daughters. The Copyright Law does not protect basic plots and stock characters. If it granted such protection, four or five writers writing 15 or 20 novels with stock characters and stock plots could stop all writers of pop literature from writing anything thenceforth

7. Eastern Book Company & Others vs Navin J. Desai

CD-ROM discs (when equipped with star pagination) amounted to unlawful copies of West's arrangement of cases under the Copyright Act,

(i) West has conceded that specification of the initial page of a West case reporter in plaintiffs' products (parallel citation) is permissible under the fair use.

(ii) West's arrangement may be perceived through parallel citation and thus the plaintiffs may lawfully create a copy of West's arrangement of cases,

(iii) The incremental benefit of star pagination is that it allows the reader to perceive West's page breaks within each opinion, which were not protected by its copyright.

(iv) Therefore star pagination does not create a "coy" of any protected elements of West's compilations or infringe West's copyrights.

Page 15: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

(v) On a statement made by the defendants on 17th July, 2000, this Court permitted the defendants to sell their CD-ROMs with the text of the judgments of the Supreme Court Along with their own head notes which were not in any way copy of the headnotes and text of the plaintiffs.

8. The Indian Performing Right ... vs Mr. Aditya Pandey

Mr. Ashok Sen has leaned heavily in support of his contentions lays down that the copyright in a cinematograph film or a record shall not affect the separate copyright in any work in respect of which or a substantial part of which, the film, or as the case may be, the record is made. Though a conflict may at first sight seem to exist between section 13(4) and section 14(1) (iii) on the one hand and section 14(1)  (ii) on the other, a close scrutiny and a harmonious and rational instead of a mechanical construction of the said provisions cannot but lead to the irresistible conclusion that once the author of a lyric or a musical work parts with a portion of his copyright by authorizing a film producer to make a cinematograph film in respect of his work and thereby to have, his work incorporated or recorded on the sound track of a cinematograph film, the latter acquires by virtue of section 14 (1) of the Act on completion of the cinematograph film a copyright which gives him the exclusive right inter alia of performing the work in public i.e. to cause the film in so far as it consists of visual images to be seen in public and in so far as it consists of the acoustic portion including a lyric or a musical work to be heard in public without securing any further permission of the author (composer) of the lyric or musical work for the performance of the work in public. In other word, a distinct copyright in the aforesaid circumstances comes to vest in the cinematograph film as a whole which in the words of British Copyright Committee set up in 1951 relates both to copying the film and to its performance in public.

Law of Defamation

It is the infringement of Right to Reputation of an individual or groups

Defamation is an intentional false communication, either published or publicly spoken, bywords, signs or visible representations, that injures another’s reputation or good name. Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code defines Defamation as; “Whoever by words, either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such person, is said except in specified cases, to defame the person.”

It can be classified in two ways:-

Page 16: Formative Assessment- Assignment A_Media Laws & Ethics ready

1)Libel

2)Slander

Libel Slander

IPC 500 states that whoever defames another shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

REFERENCES

1.www.timesofindia.com

2.www.indiakanoon.com

3.www.indianexpress.com

4.www.legalserviceindia.com

When some defamatory material is written, printed or published, with words, photos, etc, it is libel.

When it is communicated through words of mouth, gestures, facial expressions, body movements it is slander.