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!