Different Media Related Acts

1. LEGALLEGAL
ENVIRONMENTENVIRONMENT
ANDAND
ADVERTISINGADVERTISING
ETHICSETHICS

2.  Prasar Bharati Act, possibly the most
important legislative move for the future of
Indian broadcasting, came into force on
September 15. With this, a three-person
selection committee formally began the task of
choosing the 15-member Prasar Bharati Board
that will transform Doordarshan and All India
Radio (AIR) into constituents of an
autonomous Broadcast-ing Corporation. The
committee comprises Vice-President Krishan
Kant, Press Council Chairman P.B. Sawant and
a nominee of the President who was yet to be
named. How long the group was likely to take
to complete its task also remained unclear.

3.  The Prasar Bharati Corporation :
 Doordarshan and AIR have been placed under an
autonomous body, namely, the Prasar Bharati
(Broadcasting Corporation of India) with effect from
23rd November, 1997.
 The main objective is to free the media from
Government control so that citizens can exercise their
fundamental right to freedom of expression and to
ensure that access to media is not the privilege of the
political party in power alone.
 Prasar Bharati is envisaged to be the Public Service
Broadcaster in the country. The main challenges
before the Corporation are:
 Providing the ideal mix of infotainment backed by
good quality transmission
 Reaching remote and inaccessible areas
 Raising financial resources without compromising the
main objective of being a public service broadcaster.

4.  Prasar Bharati
The Prasar Bharati Act came into existence in
September 1990 and came into force with effect
from 15 September 1997. The act sought to free
Akashwani (All India Radio) and Doordarshan
from direct control of the Government and
provides for establishment of an autonomous
Corporation for electronic media.
The Prasar Bharati Amendment Bill 1998 was
passed in the Lok Sabha in August 1998. The Bill
sought to revive the Prasar Bharati Act 1990 and
nullifies the effect of the Ordinance promulgated
last year. On August 29, 1998 Prasar Bharati
(Broadcasting Corporation of India) Ordinance
1998 was promulgated to restore the original
Prasar Bharati Broadcasting Corporation of India
Act 1990.

5.  As in the original Act, the Ordinance
provides for
 establishment of a Parliamentary Committee
to oversee the functioning of the Corporation
 establishment of a Broadcasting Council
 the appointment of two full time members of
finance and personnel
 retirement of the 1/3 members by rotation
 Fixing the upper age limit of 62 years for the
CEO.
 Advertising in India has expanded rapidly in
the post-Independent era, keeping pace with
the growth of various industries. Advertising
expenditure as a percentage of Gross
National Product is .25 per cent in India as
compared to 2.9 per cent in USA.

6.  The emergence of TV advertising from a non-entity in 1970's
to a dominant medium of advertising is a major development
of this decade. The advertisements contributed to DD an
income of Rs 610 crores in the year 1999-2000. The press
continues to obtain most of the advertising share. In the year
1997, twenty-eight dailies derived more than 75% of their
income through ads. Around 19 dailies devoted more than
60% space to advertisements. The Directorate of Advertising
and Visual Publicity (DAVP) places advertisement in various
newspapers and journals on behalf of various Ministries and
Departments of the Government of India. A number of
autonomous bodies and public sector enterprises channelise
their advertising through DAVP. The Code of Advertising
Practice was adopted by The Advertising Council Of India with
a purpose to control the content of advertisements and to
ensure that the they are not offensive to generally accepted
standards of public decency. All India Radio Code for
Commercial Advertising lays down standards of conduct for
advertisers on Indian radio. The Code of Commercial
Advertising on Doordarshan published in 1986, lays down
standards of conduct for advertisers on Indian television.

7. Copy Right Act
Act to safe guard the original work and
creative talents of artists ( including
painter, musician, sculpture, wroter,
poet singer etc.)
Modern technology and global spread of
art has made it compulsory to reach
out to a larger audience
Different acts in different to protect
creativity from plagiarism and theft

8.  Indian Copy Right Act was introduced in 1957
 It extends to the whole of India even for the
foreign work which is meant to be viewed in
India
 Any artistic work means, “ a painting,
sculpture, drawing, map, plan or chart,
photograph, design, architecture, dramatic
work ( part or finished), musical composition,
cinematography, film, sound recording, visual
image, features, computer programs, novels ,
short stories, essays or any other non fictional
writing including course work.

9. It also extends to the government work
including legislation, judiciary
document, any part or the whole of
the Indian Constitution,
parliamentary proceedings concert,
dance performance or films and
documentaries meant for any
government purpose

10. It also includes joint authorship where
two or more authors have jointly
produced any work
Chapter two of this act suggests the
establishment of the Copy Right
Board. It would be directly under the
control of the Registrar of Copy Right
working within the central
government control

11. The powers and the functions of Copy
Right board are subject to
amendments and under section 345
and 346 of the Criminal Procedure
Code, it is considered to be at par
with the rights of the Civil Courts.

12. The Patent Act
 Background
 1. The Patent Act, 1970 came into force on
20.4.1972 replacing Indian Patents and
Designs Act, 1911. When India became
independent, the Govt. of India appointed
the Patent Enquiry Committee .
 The Patent Bill, 1965 based mainly on his
 recommendations and incorporating a few
changes, in particular relating to Patents
for food, drug, medicines, was introduced
in the lower house of Parliament on 21st
September, 1965

13.  The Patents Act, 1970 in comparison with Indian
Patents and Designs Act, 1911 has far more reaching
effect in some areas such as food, Drug and
 Medicines where all the patents granted under this
category and deemed to be endorsed with the words
“License of Right”.
 The chapter XXII provides international
arrangements with the countries outside India,
which afford to the applicants for Patents in India or
citizens of India, similar privileges as are granted to
its own citizens in respect of grant of Patent and the
protection of their patent rights

14. Consumer Protection Act
 For better protection of the interest
of consumers
 Following are the objectives of the
act:
1. Right to be protected against
marketing of goods hazardous to life
and property
2. Right to be informed about quality,
quantity, potency, purity and price.

15. Continued…
3. Right to assured for the access of
goods at competitive price.
4. Right to be heard and to be protected
by appropriate forums
5. The Right to seek redressal against
unfair trade practices or any other
method of exploiting consumers
6. Right to consumer education

16. Continued…
 The act is divided in four chapters-
1. Preliminary: According to this, the Act is
extended to the whole of regional
boundaries of India, except the state of
Jammu and Kashmir
Some of the definitions covered in this
chapter are:
a. Consumer:
It means any person who buys any goods
or services made by any payment system
for his own use and not for the resale or
commercial use

17. Continued…
b. Complaint:
It means any allegation in writing
made by the consumer regarding any
unfair trade practice, any goods with
defect, any service which is faulty or
not on time, excess price charged or
goods hazardous to life and safety

18. Continued…
2. Consumer protection council
3. Consumer dispute redressal
4. Miscellaneous