#Copyright Assignment

The Calcutta High Court has ruled that a duly registered deed of copyright assignment under the Copyright Act, 1957 qualifies for stamp duty exemption under Article 23 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, rejecting the demand for formal 'entry' as an outdated procedural hurdle. This clarifies the rights of IP assignees and eliminates a major compliance burden for copyright transactions across India.

CESTAT Chennai rules that programme production services remain taxable under 'Programme Producer's Services' even when exclusive copyright is assigned to the broadcaster. The taxable event is the production activity itself, not the transfer of rights, impacting media production contracts and tax liability assessments.