LAWS & PUBLIC RELATIONS

Laws in free societies are statements of principles people have agreed to live by in order to get along together and to live in peace and harmony, protecting and advancing societies cherished values and discouraging those actions considered detrimental to public welfare. 

Law deals with what is right or wrong, proper and improper, permissible or denying; through them for all frustration is sometimes produced we would all be in solid state. For PR professionals no single area is more important. Law and regulation with their application tell our institution what they can do and cannot do where with whom and for how much. Equally important to tell us what others can do and cannot do to us. Simply stated they are the rules and we cannot play games effectively unless we understand goods.

LEGAL SENSITIVE

Conflicts can quite frequently arise between PR professionals and attorneys playing on some team and representing visiting the same client or institution. Most frequent argument for simple matters, openness, how much we can say. PR professional must be aware of basic legal consideration; effective institution served in general and intimate laws and relations that govern professional’s actions or professionalists.

Five major areas of concern

While law is complex and exhaustive most of the matter PR professionals need to be concerned with can be grouped into 5 categories

a.   Communication Law and Regulation

b.   Law and rules concerning financial relation

c.   Consumer relation

d.   Employee relation

e.   Environmental laws

 

a.   Communication Law and Regulation

The first involves those laws and regulations that in one way or other deal with communication and most particularly with truth, accuracy and fairness in communication with privacy and regulation of individual and organization.

b.   Laws and rules concerning financial relation

Second involves laws and regulation concerning how in business deals with and communicates to its shareholders both present and potential. For most part this is a matter of ruling and administrative laws laid down at securities and exchange, commission and major stock exchange.

c.   Consumer relation

Third major area concerning legal sensitivity is the way business deals with customers, quality and safety of its products and services and how it condensed itself as competitor and how it regains itself in respect to state laws under which it is clustered.

d.   Employee relation

Fourth is the matter of way in business or institution condensed itself in relation to its employees. Central, state laws and regulation in this area flow from labor dept, enrollment dept, and occupational safety authority.

e.   Environmental relation

Finally is the matter of law how an opposition condenses itself with respect to environment as protection of public from hazards or harms that might be created from its operations. PR persons should be aware of environmental and pollution regulation enacted by various central state and municipal authorities and keep in mind that this is moving target. New laws are passed each day. New regulations are made, all of which are to underscore fact a law or regulation exists somewhere governing practically any move an organization makes and they all have PR in implication. A professional must be individual smart enough to keep in mind all laws are a result of required needs. Injustice or inequality and most laws are result of legislature reacting to what they think their constituents think about an issue. Another way of saying it is that most laws have their basis in public opinion. Public opinion is public turf. For business organization and PR officials it is for better to be sensitive and responsive to public welfare in first instance than to have to deal with corrective rules later. Part of professionals job is to make sure his or her management colleagues understand this.

COPYWRIGHT AND CONTEMPT OF COURT

Those engaged in PR should also be familiar with laws concerning liable contempt of court and legislature and copyright.

Liable – It is a writing tending or amounting to harm or injury and regret character of person who is the object of it. It is a defamatory statement published in press or otherwise while slander is old defamation, liable is the publication of a false defamatory statement expression (printing or by signs, picture or in some similar form) which is permanent and published without lawful justification or excuse concerning a person and which injures ones reputation. Statement is divided into following categories:

a.   Exciting hatred, contempt, scorn or ridicule

b.   To be shunned or avoided by society

c.   Effecting profession or office

d.   Effecting trade or business

For instance, calling person a liar or villain or a swine or making dishonorable comparison of person to character in history, fiction or mythology or announcement lyharus statement.

Difference usually put up a justification, privilege, fair comment an innocent to mark to express truth about person for public good or to express in good faith and opinion about contempt of public servant in discharge of his public function or of any person touching any public question is not liable similarly publish substantially true report of court of law or to comment on good faith or merits of civil and criminal cases is not considered defamatory. A reporter carries press in good faith and opinion on merits of case, which have been decided, or merits of any performance, which its author has submitted to judgment of public. He can also make comment on another person. A good faith if it is for production of person making it or any other or for public good. Acceptance of defense as indicated depends upon interpretation of statement made and appreciation of evidence by court. Solution available to aggrieved person in India is of two parts – civil action under common law and criminal proceeding for deformation. In first essential for damages by minority compulsion, in criminal proceeding it is punishment with fine or imprisonment.

 

CONTEMPT OF COURT

Any act done or writing published calculated to bring court of law into contempt or lower authority or obstruct or interfere with new course of justice or lawful process of court is contempt of court. For instance publication of proceedings of court are being heard in camera, false and grossly inaccurate reporting are court proceeding, publication that made them to interfere with orderly administration of justice or publication that scandalizes the court, adjures counsels, parties or witnesses are contempt of court and also comment should be made and for care should be taken in reporting when case is subjoined.

Press does enjoy privilege of fair comment but personal attach on judges attributing in competency, corruption, partiality, judicial dishonesty, political or caste bias, improper motives are considered contempt of court.

 

COPYRIGHT

Copyright is a right to a person in respect of a work produced by him as a result of exercise of skill, judgment and labor. Under copyright act protection is given to literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, archaeological or any work related to craftsmanship in writing and also to films, television, broadcasting production, reproduction, performance in public. However, a fair dealing with literary, musical, artistic work for the purpose of research criticism, review, reporting, current event in newspaper or magazine or judicial process etc do not constitute infringement or violation of copyright under copyright act registration of any work in which copyrighting existence is entirely voluntary. In absence of registration, interest for fringement to be under common law.

THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 2005

The Domestic Violence Act 2005 is the first law in India specifically addressing domestic violence targeting husbands, live-in partners and family members who abuse or threaten women verbally, physically, sexually, emotionally and economically (including dowry harassment).

The salient features of the Protection from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 are as follows:

It seeks to cover women who are or have been in a relationship with the abuser where both parties have lived together in a shared household or are related by consanguinity, marriage or adoption. Family members living together as a joint family are also included: sisters, widows, mothers, single women or those living with the abuser are entitled to get legal protection.

Domestic violence includes actual abuse or the threat of abuse that is physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic. Harassment by way of unlawful dowry demands is also covered under this definition.

One of the most important features of the act is the women’s right to secure housing. The act provides for the women’s right to reside int eh matrimonial or shared household, whether or not she has any title or rights in the household. This right is secured by a residence order, which is passed by a court. This residence order cannot be passed against anyone who is a woman.

The court has the power to pass protection orders that prevent the abuser from aiding or committing an act of domestic violence or any other specified act, entering workplace or any other place frequented by the abused, attempting to communicate with the abused, isolating any assets used by both the parties and causing violence to the abused, her relatives and others who provide her assistance.

The protection of women through the Domestic Violence Act 2005, (PWDVA) was rightly hailed as a historic moment for Indian women’s rights. The bill was notified only in October 2006. Women activists questioned the government’s sincerity in implementing the new law in letter and in spirit.

The act, the salient features of which makes domestic violence against wives, mothers, sisters, daughters and other women relatives a civil offence came under sharp criticism, mainly from men, who argued that it was open to manipulation as it provides for wide-ranging powers to women. When the bill was tabled in parliament in 2003, male members protested that it was denigrating the institution of marriage. It took a further struggle of two years before it was eventually passed.

The new law is mainly meant to provide protection to the wife / women, live-in partner from violence at the hands of the husband, male partner or his relatives.  Among its other provisions are the right to reside int eh matrimonial and shared household, appointment of protection officers (POS), service providers and counselors and setting up of shelters for battered women.

According to activists, however, the reality is that most state governments had yet to set up either counseling centers or shelters or to appoint POS often shunting off this latter task to police officers who are already overburdened and disinclined to taking on additional responsibilities. They stress that in order to set up the legal and support mechanisms provided under PWDVA, a substantial and specific budget allocation, both at the Central and State Government levels would have to be earmarked.

There is tremendous demand for redress under the new act and that 302 cases have been filed in Delhi in the first few months. The overburdened judiciary cannot meet this demand and there was a need for sufficient judges to be in place to deliver justice to women. ‘The Delhi experience has shown that the POS are unequipped to give the required support to the judge.’

The case of Nazi of Varanasi, a survivor who spoke of the mental and physical torture she suffered at the hands of her husband and inlaws when she decided to leave after seven years of marriage and take along her five year old daughter, her husband threw acid on hter face (November 3). When she was subsequently hospitalized he frequently visited her to make threats against her and her family to force her to withdraw the case she filed against him. Since then 10 different police officers have questioned her and said she was lying to them. In the meanwhile, her husband renewed his threats to kill her if she didn’t withdraw the case against him, shared the shaken young woman.

It is not easy for a woman facing violence at home to speak out for a variety of reasons, mainly because of economic dependence on her husband. Another survivor shared ‘you face a lot of humiliation as no one takes you seriously. When I fled form my husband I had to leave my two young children behind because I had no home, no job and had to take shelter with a friend’.

In order to implement the law, NGOs and activists work closely with the judges. Deepa Jain, secretary in the Department of Women and Child Development, while reiterating the government’s commitment to implement the Act agrees that women remain vulnerable to violence at home due to lack of access to services.

The government has sent the rules and provisions of this act to all state governments and has posted it on its official websites to create greater awareness about it. Further steps include translation of the Act into regional languages, user guides and an illustrative list of possible domestic violence scenarios and immediate response routes that the victim has access to.

TRADEMARKS ACT 1999

 

The Trademarks Act 1999

 

The Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958

It had served its purpose and review of the existing law was necessary because of developments in trading and commercial practices, increasing globalization of trade and industry, etc. a need for simplification and harmonization of trademark and to give effect tp important judicial decision.

Hence the Trademark Act, 1999 incorporated the following:

1.      The registration of trademarks for services in addition to goods.

2.      Registration of trademarks which are imitation of well known trademarks not to be permitted.

3.      Simplified procedure for registration with equal rights.

4.      Enhancing punishment for the offences relating to trade marks.

5.      Appointing an Appellate Board for speedy disposal of appeals.

6.      The final authority for registration of certification trademarks to the Registrar instead of the Central Government.

Certain Draft Rules were published in the exercise of powers given in the Trademarks Act 1999. These Draft Rules were called the Trademarks Rules 2002. These rules give in detail the explanation of the terms used, along with the procedure for registration of Trademarks application, about renewal, etc.