Of Dev,Dance,and Intellectual Property rights!

How does it feel,when your child born of love and passion,once sacredly cocooned in your womb's comfort,is one fine day claimed by someone else as their very own,taking you all unawares?

How is it like when your beloved walks off and unrepentantly at that,adding insult to injury?

What comes of you when you think you are lost in the wilderness?

All of this put together conglomerated with agony, deep pain, rejection, depression and humiliation would be the state of mind of an artist whose much cherished work is copied,unapologetically and presented spinelessly,with false-pride by those who defy all norms of modesty and self-esteem.

Such a good soul that DEV is,he has taken all of this in his stride!
For those of you who do not know what exactly transpired to provoke me into writing this piece,here is a synopsis:

In namma pettai chennai, Devanand aka DEV, runs Deivs' school of danz, an institute specialising in Hip-hop, jazz, jive, salsa, free style, contemporary, western, Indian..... and so on. You name it and he has it! His troupe of dancers have carved a niche for themselves in the world of dance going from strength to strength winning many competitions that Chennai can boast of.What started as a passion,nurtured since childhood,has now become Dev's Profession,and flagging off his career was Lata Rajnikanth's Ashram School,under which banner he did DAYA 2000 and 2001.

The feathers on his cap include his choreography for the filmfare Awards, Ad films for pothy's Chennai Silks....Thangamaligai, theatre productions like 'The wizard of OZ', 'phantom of the opera','music of the night' to name a few!

Most important of his choreographies is 'REFLECTIONS',which is a truly intelligent and honestly original work where Dev had incorporated mirror images {well now you know why its named reflections!} through his choreographic prowess.
This piece was an instant hit and created a rage in all the places that it was staged.
And it did'nt quite stop there!!!

It was unscrupulously copied by the more experienced,highly respected and much reputed choreographers,and presented ruthlessly in all the popular channels garnering undue honour and attention unabashedly which should have all been Dev's.
{wake up friends! the synopsis is over!!!}

Well in this scenario,Iam very tempted and inclined to talk about the
Intellectual Property Rights.

The term Intellectual Property (IP) reflects the idea that its subject matter is the product of the mind or the intellect.IP, protected through law, like any other form of property can be a matter of trade, that is, it can be owned, bequeathed, sold or bought.The major features that distinguish it from other forms are their intangibility and non-exhaustion by consumption.
A UN agency, namely, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) based in Geneva administers treaties in the field of intellectual property.India is a member of WIPO.
India is also member of 2 major treaties, namely, Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (relating to patents, trademarks, designs, etc.) of 1883 and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (relating to copyright) of 1886. Apart from these, India is also a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) which facilitates obtaining of patents in several countries by filing a single application.India is also a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO agreement, inter-alia, contains an agreement on IP, namely, the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). This Agreement made protection of intellectual property an enforceable obligation of the Member States. TRIPS Agreement sets out minimum standards of intellectual property protection for Member States.
India has complied with the obligations contained in the TRIPS Agreement and amended/enacted IP laws.

Thus Intellectual property rights are legal rights, which result from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields. These rights give statutory expression to the moral and economic rights of creators in their creations. Intellectual property rights safeguard creators and other producers of intellectual goods and services by granting them certain time-limited rights to control the use made of those productions.
Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property which includes patents for inventions, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications and Copyright and related rights which cover literary and artistic expressions (e.g. books, films, music, architecture, art), plus the rights of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and broadcasters in their radio and television broadcasts which are also referred to as neighbouring rights.
In this view,Intellectual property is a non-tangible property that takes the form of abstract designs,patterns,ideas or collection of ideas.
One of the many defenders of Intellectual property says,"THERE IS NO PROPERTY MORE PECULIARLY A MAN'S OWN THAN THAT WHICH IS PRODUCED BY THE LABOUR OF HIS MIND."...................
He also says,"THE MAN WHO BRINGS OUT OF NOTHINGNESS SOME CHILD OF HIS THOUGHT HAS RIGHTS THEREIN WHICH CANNOT BELONG TO ANY OTHER SORT OF PROPERTY."

Copyright protection in India-

India has one of the most modern copyright protection laws in the world. Major development in the area of copyright during 1999 was the amendment to the Copyright Act of 1957 to make it fully compatible with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement. Called the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1999, this amendment was signed by the President of India on December 30, 1999 and came into force on January 15, 2000.

The earlier 1994 amendment to the Copyright Act of 1957 had provided protection to all original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematography, films and sound recordings. It also brought sectors such as satellite broadcasting, computer software and digital technology under Indian copyright protection.

Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957 provides that an offense of infringement of copyright or other rights conferred by the Act shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to three years with fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees but which may extend to two lakh rupees (Rs. 200,000).

Now isnt that news to most of us?
Am sure reading this brings a sense of assurance and confidence in original artists some of whom have in the past approached the court to redress their grievances against those who bask in borrowed glory!
This write up is for Dev whose unassuming intellectual poise inspired me into broaching this less talked about topic!

NARENDRAKUMAR -A DANCER PAR EXCELLENCE !

In one of my previous blogs, I had expressed my fascination for smt.ALARMEL VALLI's DANCE.Here Iam now, to talk about yet another of my favourites,this time a male dancer who has with his histrionic skills captured many a heart world over.This young dancer is a charmer and tends to bowl you over with his humility ! Well Iam talking about L .NARENDRAKUMAR ,an extremely talented BHARATANATYAM artist and choreographer.This star has really toiled hard to attain an enviable place amongst the dancers.Hailing from a middle class family with no background whatsoever in music or dance,Narendraa has scaled new heights in his chosen field of Bharatanatyam sheerly due to his hard work and dedication.Well known for his innovative choreography,Narendra surprises his fans and critics alike sculpting each piece adequately with nuances of abhinaya and intricacies of nritta.His KALINGA NARTANAM thillana is very much in par with the virtuosity in SMT.ARUNA SAYEERAM'S rendition of the same,a OOTHUKADU VENKATASUBIAR composition.KALINGA NARTANAM,SAKTHI,GAYATRI,MRUTA SANJEEVANI,GANGA.............each production bringing out new dimensions in choreography,aweinspiring the audience!
With a penchant for solo repertoires also, Narendra choreographs in accordance with the calibre and expertise of the artist concerned.
His better half ANUSHA, is an accomplished dancer and research scholar.She plays a pro-active role in all of Narendra's endeavours.His students are no less proficient,the petite Anamika and the svelte Poornima have already proved themselves to be good dancers.
An excellent dancer himself, Narendraa has carved a niche in the dance world.MAY HIS DANCE FLOURISH !

WHISTLING WIZARDS !

Whoever said WHISTLING is the forte of road side romeos and college goers for cat-calls and booing, would have been put to shame had they watched the first ever whistling competition in INDIA held at CHENNAI recently.
Chennai’s pride truly!
For those of you bloggers / readers who do not know that there exists an association for whistlers/whistling, the INDIAN WHISTLERS’ASSOCIATION was formed on 19th September 2004 as a yahoo group founded by MR.RIGVEDA DESHPANDEY all of 18 years hence. It is quite typical of the teen age young man to whistle at pretty women, but MR.RIGVEDA DESHPANDEY foresightedly formed the IWA bringing into existence a new ‘clan’ of ‘whistlers’ thereby taking them to a much elevated platform promoting them from being ‘bath-room whistlers’ to ‘professional whistlers’.
There used to be a time when it was preconceived by the public at large that whistling was an exhibition of indecent behaviour. Some of our friends may also have been chided at home for whistling. However things have changed for the better! As of now, our friends in the IWA get a lot of encouragement from kith and kin alike. After all it is the most cherished human ‘instrument’ isn’t it?
Whistling itself has evolved over the years emerging as a musical human instrument with tremendous scope to improvise. The popularity of this new art form has grown in magnitude with numerous CD’s, movies and commercials featuring WHISTLING !
Now moving on to the first ever whistling competition held at Chennai, the show was a stupendous success! Ably shouldered by MR.JAGAT TARKAS, who heads the Chennai chapter of the IWA, the show was a great hit!
Competitions were held in four categories, namely- HINDI SONGS, TAMIL SONGS,
WESTERN SONGS AND CLASSICAL SONGS. A panel of eminent judges were invited for the morning and afternoon sessions respectively. For the morning session the judges were MRS.KAVITA PATEL, MR.SAJAN SHENOY and MR.HITESH SHELT.
The afternoon session had MR.SHYAM SUNDAR, MRS.NIKILA and MR.RAMANA as the judges. MR.RIGVEDA DESHPANDEY the founder and MR.CHITAN BHIDE ,the founder member were the chief guests for both the sessions. They also enthralled the audience with their guest performance!
The audience who consisted mostly of close relatives and friends of the participants were awestruck with the professionalism and class shown by the whistlers! They cheered non-stop, totally involved in the masterful show. The passion for whistling was very much evident in the child-like enthusiasm shown by some of the elderly participants, who also savoured every moment of their whistling, rendered so melodiously and effortlessly!
In other words our participants were not blowing their own trumphets but were playing their own flutes! Karaoke music was used by most of the participants and they did their best in the allotted 4 minutes. Hindi and Tamil music category had quite a number of participants while the classical and western had very few. What was heartening to note was that girls participated very eagerly encouraged and applauded by their parents. The participants and their guests sat through the entire day, quite eager to know the results.
MR.JAGAT TARKAS, as I mentioned earlier had made all arrangements meticulously, including that of excellent acoustics thanks to MR.GANESH, also the DJ for the day.
Nevertheless, I would like to make a few suggestions which the organizers may ponder over!
Firstly, whistling requires a lot of stamina, and the level of stamina gradually comes down as one ages. Breath control and stamina of a twenty year old and that of a forty year old vary drastically and it would only be prudent to categorise the participants into two categories-below 30 years and above 30 years.
Secondly, the participants were free to use either karaoke music or whistle along with the actual song apart from those who opted to have no music at all. This should also be addressed to next time and whistling along with the actual song may be discouraged.
Thirdly, classical category had some of the participants perform certain film songs which fell under the semi-classical variety and not under the classical category in the true sense of the word. The above mentioned are only some of the initial hiccups that any growing forum may undergo.
Moving away from the competition, the IWA should in the long run form its own ‘WHISTLERS SYMPHONY’, a completely professional whistlers’ troupe competent enough to perform in various sabhas and other organizations devoted to music.
I am sure with the youthful exuberance of the likes of MR.RIGVEDA and the elderly wisdom of the likes of MR.JAGAT, the IWA is sure to go places………….and the days are not very far off !

My favourite Dancer !

who else could that be but the ever enchanting ALARMEL VALLI ! Iam too sure most of you , if not all will agree with me.What clarity of nritta ,spontaneous abinaya ! amazing foot work at an even amazing tempo! oooops !!! One has to watch her perform just once to get hooked up and get captivated in her mind boggling presentations.Her interpretation of the sangam poetry has been appreciated by all,interwoven with her ever infectious nritta.
Yes,I do admit that our dance world is filled with many other dedicated and inspiring dancers,nevertheless Alarmel Valli stands apart and stands tall !

DANCE !

THE PHILOSOPHER'S SOUL DWELLS IN HIS HEAD,
THE POET'S SOUL IN HIS HEART;
THE SINGER'S SOUL LINGERS ABOUT HIS THROAT,
BUT THE SOUL OF THE DANCER ABIDES IN ALL HER BODY.
- KAHLIL GIBRAN.