News and developments

Dispute Resolution

Resolving admiralty disputes through cross border insolvency

In India, Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017 (“Admiralty Act”) governs maritime disputes, including arrest of ships, maritime claims, judicial sale of ships and determination of priorities. Section 3 of the Admiralty Act specifies that High Courts are vested with admiralty jurisdiction which is exercisable over the waters up to and including the territorial waters of their respective jurisdictions. Section 4 sets out the types of maritime claims, including disputes related to vessel possession or ownership, the employment or earnings arising out of the vessel, etc.
09 May 2023
Press Releases

Session 2A: Web 3.0 - Regulating a Decentralized Internet

ITechLaw Association
11 January 2023
TMT

CSAM: Is It Time to Age Gate the Internet?

As digital platforms cater to an ever-increasing user base, service providers and regulators are increasingly cognizant of the addictive nature of the services online, and their delivery to the end users. Children are now the focal point of discussions attending practices, which has catapulted regulatory scrutiny and policy-making initiatives.
14 September 2022
Arbitration

Arbitration and Commercial Courts: A Jurisdictional Conflict – Part II

1. Introduction: The Commercial Courts Act, 2015 (“the CC Act”) has been enacted with the primary goal to expedite the resolution of commercial disputes in a time bound manner and with minimal interference of the higher courts. The Act also grants jurisdiction to the Commercial Court over arbitration matters of a commercial nature. While is intent is noble, the lawmakers have inadvertently left behind jurisdictional inconsistencies in the Act, which leads to conflict with the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. In the previous part, we analysed the provisions in light of the judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Yashwardhan Raghuwanshi vs. District & Sessions Judge. Now, the High Court of Orissa (“OHC”) has ruled the opposite in its judgment dated 08.04.2022 in M.G. Mohanty & Anr. Vs. State of Odisha & Ors.
25 August 2022
Finance

ESG in Finance: Through the Looking Glass

Introduction Environmental, social, governance (ESG) is the focal point of all regulatory and policymaking agendas across the world. The financial service sector is no recluse, and there are pivots for changing this landscape for the better too. Environmental criteria refers to the energy consumption of the company, the resources it consumes, the waste it discharges and the impact it has on the lives of living beings. The social criteria addresses the relationships that the company has (builds and aims to build) with the communities where it does business in; labor relations, social diversity and inclusion, all form part of this. Governance as a criterion focuses on the internal systems, practices, processes, and compliance with the law[1]. 
10 June 2022
TMT (Technology, Media & Telecoms)

EU ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ACT- AN OVERVIEW

Artificial intelligence (AI) in pop culture have never actually been depicted in a trust-building environment, but have always been shown in the light of disruptions, if not catastrophes. In a recent survey, more than 72% of Americans expressed worry about a future in which machines perform many human jobs[1].
23 May 2022
Press Releases

TMT Law Practice successfully represented YashRaj Film

TMT Law Practice successfully represented YashRaj Film ( A Film Production House) in denying the relief to a Writ Petitioner in a Public Interest Litigation which sought deletion of a scene from their upcoming movie “Jayeshbhai Jordaar”.
16 May 2022
TMT (Technology, Media & Telecoms)

The Big “Monster”: User Generated Content in the Indian Landscape

Meghana Chandorkar, Partner; Urjitah Srikanth, Senior Associate, TMT Law Practice
30 May 2022
Force majeure

Force Majeure in Times of War

The future is uncertain. It would be prudent to act in a risk-averse manner, leaving room for the unknown, particularly in these volatile times. The commercial and legal professions have long since tried to incorporate such risks into contractual agreements, in the form of a Force Majeure clause. From the simple exceptions of unforeseeable events to elaborate and multi-faceted clause(s) in modern contracts, the evolved force majeure clause has sprung into relevance with the occurrence of major global events in recent years.
11 March 2022
TMT (Technology, Media & Telecoms)

Children in the online world: are they safe?

With the dawn of an era which intends to preserve the rights manifested with respect to data privacy and associated rights bestowed upon an individual, leaving behind the rights accruing in favor of the “children of men” will be unbecoming. Given the fast-paced digital ecosystem, which is now moving towards focusing on targeted and child centric business activities, social platforms, it is time to make a move towards a conforming, and morally encompassing privacy framework. With very little control that a child exercises on their interests, and the excesses they wish to indulge in, it is for their guardians, “digital custodians” to ensure that nothing goes awry.
02 March 2022
Intellectual Property

DOCTRINE OF DE MINIMIS VIS-À-VIS COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

In the world of social media where people are hooked onto reels, memes and tend to click pictures, vlog their experiences, and post the same on their respective social media handles such as Instagram and Facebook, they unknowingly tend to infringe copyright of multiple owners on multiple occasions in multiple jurisdictions.
06 January 2022
Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Unconditional Stay of Arbitral Awards: A Step back for Arbitrations in India

Introduction: Arbitration has emerged as the forerunner as a means of dispute resolution in recent times. The primary attractions for contracting parties to opt for arbitrations include time and cost efficiency, flexibility of procedures and most importantly, the minimal judicial intervention. In all legal systems, any challenge to arbitral awards is limited to maintain the essence of the arbitral process.
07 December 2021
TMT (Technology, Media & Telecoms)

EVOLUTION OF ESPORTS – A TRANSACTIONAL VIEW

Introduction Owing to the dismal happenings around us caused by a pandemic, the year 2020 had horror in store for every sector, across industries and jurisdictions. The world stood still and suddenly, there was no sporting event to attend, no new movie release in a theatre next door, no live performance/s and no schools, and the world was stuck inside their houses – for survival.
07 December 2021

What To Do When You’re Broke: The Laws Governing Personal Bankruptcy In India

The ongoing pandemic and the related economic downturn have affected most citizens of the country and distressed the finances of even the best financial planners amongst us. Despite the moratorium offered by banks, the successive lockdowns in different parts of the country and the continued suspended functioning of markets have caused several businesses to struggle to make ends meet. The high unemployment rate, saturated demand in many sectors, and low GDP growth rate has rendered many persons unable to meet their debts.
20 August 2021
Press Releases

TMT Law Practice represents India’s largest vernacular Gaming platform, WinZo, in Series C funding round where the company raised USD 65 Million from Griffin Gaming Partners

The Underdog Story! Today we announce $65MM Series C financing led by Griffin Gaming Partners. It's a remarkable feat as our business turns well capitalized to fuel our growth ambitions. With so much capital getting deployed over the last couple of months in the ecosystem, it must be quite bewildering for many to get their head around what it really takes for teams to make the cut.
12 July 2021
TMT (Technology, Media & Telecoms)

Primer on Pre-Packaged Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016

Introduction The Hon’ble President of India promulgated the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 on the 4th of April 2021 (“Ordinance”)[1] to introduce the much-awaited Pre-Packaged Insolvency Resolution Process (“PPIRP”) under the newly inserted Chapter-IIIA of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”) primarily to allay the concerns of small entrepreneurs whose businesses have been ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic induced disruptions across the nation. The notification[2], rules[3], and regulations[4] for proper and smooth functioning of the PPIRP have also been introduced immediately after the passing of the ordinance.
29 June 2021
TMT (Technology, Media & Telecoms)

POSTHUMOUS SURVIVAL OF PRIVACY & PERSONALITY RIGHTS: PART 2

Introduction: In Part 1 of this article, the author carved out the distinction between privacy rights, publicity rights and the right to reputation and established that the right to personality/publicity flows from the right to privacy. While the Supreme Court of India in the Puttaswamy case[1] has clarified that privacy rights do not survive the death of an individual, the question that remains is: Even though personality/ publicity rights flow from the right to privacy, owing to the difference in their nature, can publicity rights survive the death of an individual even though the right to privacy does not?
16 June 2021
TMT (Technology, Media & Telecoms)

POSTHUMOUS SURVIVAL OF PRIVACY & PERSONALITY RIGHTS: PART 1

Introduction: Every individual is entitled to various rights during his lifetime, of which, one of the most basic, is the right to privacy. Closely related and connected with privacy, is the right of each individual to protect his reputation, as well as to prevent the use of his personal and identifying attributes. While reputation and personality are both derived from, and fall under the umbrella of privacy, the lack of specific legislation in India, to carefully differentiate between these rights, often results in the dissolution of their delicate boundaries, and thus, their interchangeable use and combined treatment. With the advancement of technology and increase in social media presence, there is an increased awareness amongst individuals to protect their privacy, reputation and use of their attributes, and accordingly, a rising need to distinguish these rights from each other, from a legal enforcement perspective. Further, recent cases on this subject have also prompted the question of whether such rights continue to survive after an individual’s death.
16 June 2021