Law Matters

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GenAI in Educational Institutions

GenAI is here to stay as one of the tools at the disposal of students in academic institutions regardless of what one feels or thinks about it. It brings with it the obvious problem of completely making up what it presents as facts to the undiscerning as well as more subtle harms such as possibly depriving students of the opportunity to hone their own drafting skills. While imagining fantasy rather than dealing in fact is, for most practical purposes, anathema in academic settings, helping students to edit their own original essays and the like is not a clear and unequivocal harm since such a function could, for example, support those whose first language is not English and who do not have the benefit of being able to access a human being both able and willing to help them polish their work; given the strength of many classes, the teaching staff at most educational institutions would be immensely overworked if they were to spend vast amounts of time enhancing not just the substance but...

First Impressions: The Digital Personal Data Protection Act

The current version of this post with footnotes in PDF is available here: [ GoogleDocs ] WORKING DRAFT v1, August 2023 Anomalies and Ambiguities A Reading of India’s 2023 Digital Personal Data Protection Law NANDITA SAIKIA Contents Introduction 1. Digital Personal Data 2. Data Principals 3. Data Processing and Data Breaches 4. The Location of Processing 5. Those who Process Personal Data 6. Permissible Processing at Will 7. Managing Consent for Processing 8. Withdrawing Consent for Processing 9. Individuals Requesting Their Data 10. DPDPA Exemptions Appendix: DPDPA Povisions re The Data Protection Board re Penalties (Annotated Chapter) Introduction [Note: This document has been shared only for the purpose of academic discussion. It is not legal advice and should not be relied upon for any purpose. It has not been proofed, and it may not be accurate or complete.] The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, (referred to as the 'DPDPA...

Monographs & Essays

The Bollywood Amendments (2010-2012)

An examination of the provisions of the 2012 amendments to the 1957 Indian Copyright Act which affect the film and music industry. The paper takes into consideration the factual background in which the amendments were made and explores whether they are likely to realise their objectives.

Last revised: 2013
(Available here: SSRN)

Art and Indian Copyright Law: A Statutory Reading

A look at how the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, as amended in 2012, interacts with art (other than films and sound recordings), and, in particular, with Indian art. The first part of this text comprises a feminist and post-colonial reading of the Indian copyright statute while later parts focus on interpreting the provisions of the statute in relation to art.

Last revised: 2017
(Available here: SSRN)

Indian Music: Ancient Traditions, Contemporary Rights

This essay on copyright and creativity discusses cultures of musical borrowing in the realm of Indian music from ancient times to the present day, and examines the effect of the introduction of colonial copyright law in India. It posits that the Western paradigm on which contemporary copyright law is based cannot be easily integrated with Indian musical practices, and argues for the decolonisation of the law.

Last revised: 2023
(Available here: SSRN)

About

IN Content Law is a personal blog which contains the views of its author, Nandita Saikia, alone unless otherwise explicitly stated. The author of the blog may have advised clients on subjects relating to those dealt with in this blog. However, the contents of this blog are not intended to reflect the opinion or position of any person (other than the author) unless otherwise explicitly stated. The posts on this blog relate to copyright and content law from an Indian perspective. They are not professional advice, and should not be considered or construed as such. No action should be taken or omitted on the basis of the contents of this blog. This blog neither creates an attorney-client relationship between the author and any visitor(s) or any other person(s), nor does it seek to do so. The material contained herein is solely for the purpose of academic discussion and is accessible on an as-is basis. No representations or warranties are made as to accuracy, impartiality or fitness of the material on this blog for any use, and the author shall not be liable in any manner to any extent for the consequences of any action taken on the basis of any material herein. Further, no representations or warranties of any nature are made regarding any material which may be linked to from this blog, and the author shall not be responsible for the contents thereof. Revisions: The posts on this blog may be revised from time-to-time for editorial or other purposes without each revision being marked in the post itself. Privacy: "This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyse traffic. Your IP address and user agent are shared with Google, together with performance and security metrics, to ensure quality of service, generate usage statistics and to detect and address abuse." (Learn more.)