COMMENTARY BOX

The GNLU Centre for Sports and Entertainment Law brings you the second newsletter for the year. This newsletter will be your one-stop solution for news from the field of Sports and Entertainment Law.

World number 27 Nick Kyrgios, during his match against Roger Federer at Laver Cup, called the chair umpire John Blom "delusional" over a decision. The incident happened in the second set when Kyrgios' ace was declared out and Blom ruled the point to be replayed despite the hawk-eye showing it to be in. Blom then warned Kyrgios for "verbal abuse" and no penalty was handed to Kyrgios. Recently Serene Williams was fined for a similar offence during the US Open finals. She had then termed the penalty to be ‘sexist’.

You can read more about it here.

The Delhi High Court decided to oversee a kabbadi match between players who represented India at the recently concluded Asian Games and those who were not picked. The High Court case is against officials of the Amateur Kabbadi Federation of India (AKFI), who face allegations of unfair selection for the Asian Games teams. Former India international players had approached the High Court with bribery charges in the Asiad selection process soon after the kabbadi teams for the Asian Games were announced. The Court held the match in order to determine the authenticity of the allegations after the conclusion of the Asian Games. The reason for India’s loss in Asia Games for Kabbadi might be due to the globalization of Kabbadi, and increase in interest and skill development for Kabbadi from other countries. India’s focus should be to retain the stronghold and name it created for Kabbadi.

You can read more about it here.

In an attempt to strive towards experts.attainment of gender equality in international sports, FIFA will start funding business-class flights for some of the Women’s World Cup teams traveling to France for next year’s tournament. The new FIFA pledge to women to attain gender equality does not cover all going to France. There has also been a reported increase in the total prize money from $15 million shared amount 24 teams at the 2015 tournament. This information was communicated by a female FIFA Official at the Women in Sports Law Conference. The significant increase in the total sum will be confirmed by the FIFA Council. The same official also stated that the women’s prize fund should increase by at least the same $40 million raise in men’s total prize money from 2018 to 2022. This move is in consonance with the objectives of the FIFA Conference for Equality and Inclusion, where the constitution of the council saw increased membership from one to six women and a woman was appointed as a Secretary-General – for the first time in over 100 years in the history of FIFA.

You can read more about it here.

Indian cricketer Virat Kohli and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were nominated and received the prestigious award on September 25. Wrestler Bajrang Punia, who won a gold medal at the recent Asian Games, has said he will file a case in court after being ignored for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour. The 24-year-old, who also won gold at the Commonwealth Games, claimed he tried talking to Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who did not respond. Punia had claimed that he deserved the award as he had more points than this year’s recipients. The Sports Ministry later clarified that the point system is used to differentiate athletes within a given sport. The Ministry further said that Virat Kohli leads in 2 out of 3 ICC rankings and Mirabai Chanu is the only Indian who is currently a world champion in an Olympic Sport.

You can read more about it here.

The Sports Law Clinic is intended to provide pro-bono representation to athletes on multiple matters across sporting tribunals. The Clinic was established in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The primary reason for setting up such an establishment is due to the inability and lack of access to the justice delivery system by athletes without their rights being violated and their funds being extorted. Most athletes in the Canadian and Caribbean areas are unable to capitalize on their rights due to their financial incapability which prevents them from gaining representation from experts. This imbalance is sought to be addressed by the clinic by catering to all areas of sports by providing representation to the athletes and by attempting to defend their rights – disputes, team selection, team management, doping, disciplinary matters, etc. The clinic further attempts to create job opportunities for young attorneys leaving law school. The Indian Sports Law environment is in grave need of such institutions – especially since most of the athletes are uneducated and are well versed in only their vernacular language. If their rights can be protected by similar local bodies across India, there will be a significant reduction in multiple anti-doping violations and various allied sports law issues as the sportsmen would be well versed with their rights and corresponding duties and will attempt to act accordingly.

You can read more about it here.

“First in time is better in law.”

The legal tussle between two production houses for the registration of a title “Double Trouble” is seen in this article. In addition to this, two voluntary bodies are involved for each registering the same title, with both of them operating in the Bombay film industry. One of them being Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association and the other being Indian Film and Television Producer Council. A suit was filed by Prism Motion Pictures Private Limited against Mukta Arts Ltd and IMMPA (Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association). The bench held that plaintiff had no copyright or goodwill in the title “Double Trouble”, it only holds registration with IMMPA (Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association). Guidelines would be required to be framed to avoid such instances in the future so as to protect whoever registered the title first. Referring to the Supreme Court’s ruling on “Desi Boys”, the High Court held that film titles may be entitled to protection if substantial reputation and goodwill is established, per se, in the absence of extensive use, they would not be protectable.

You can read more about it here.

Salman Khan Films and Central Board for Film Certification has issued notices from the Gujarat High Court for the upcoming film “Loveyatri”. Earlier, the movie's name was changed from “Loveratri” to “Loveyatri” because of an FIR launched by a Bihar Court. A Public Interest Litigation was filed, seeking a ban on the movie’s release in Gujarat. The claims were that the movie hurt religious sentiments. The timing of the movie is set to be during the festival of Navratri, further drawing the nexus between the movie and the festival. The plot is also directly related to the festival.

Article 19 (2) of the Constitution of India imposes reasonable restrictions for the use of freedom of speech and expression. The advocates of Salman Khan Productions argue that the aggrieved party should have approached Central Board for Film Certification for the matter, instead of filing a PIL. The next hearing is on 27th September.

You can read more about it here.

Comcast wins bid, beating 21st Century Fox for “Sky”. Sky is one of Europe’s most profitable TV companies. A rare “blind auction” took place for the bidding, where neither bidder would be aware of what the opponent was bidding. Among the programmes of Sky is the English Premiere League and Game of Thrones. Sky is valued at $40 billion. The sale would be completed by the end of October, according to reports. Rupert Muroch’s 21st Century Fox is set to be bought by Disney for $71.3 billion. On another side of the story, Mudoch’s Fox owns 39% stake in Sky TV, but he will not benefit from this stake, Disney would enjoy the benefits due to the sale of Fox to Disney.

You can read more about it here.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry is planning to corporatize the government-run Prasar Bharti to reduce its reliance on public funds. Prasar Bharti runs Doordarshan and All India Radio. Prasar Bharati had recently submitted a set of recommendations to the ministry after the latter sought its inputs on the proposal. This is in light of the fact that private companies have taken over the broadcasting business and Doordarshan has faced stiff competition over the years. DD National no longer finds a place among the 10 most-watched Hindi general entertainment channels in the urban and rural viewership matrix.