SHATAXI AMICUS LEX

Jillions of influencers and artists showcase their makeup artistry on various social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and others. Copyright laws are meant to protect the artistic work of creators. However, a question arises: does every artist fall under the exact legal definition of an author? Today, I would like to explore the question— “Is your makeup copyrightable in any country?” —under various legal systems around the globe. Copyright laws primarily aim to safeguard the interests and sole authorship of creators by protecting their original work. If a third party infringes a copyrighted work, the creator may be entitled to compensation. India In India, an artist's creation is protected under the  Copyright Act of 1957 , which has a broad scope. This Act explicitly defines  “artistic work.”  As per Section 2(c), artistic work includes a painting, sculpture, drawing (including maps, charts, diagrams, or plans), engraving, photograph, work of architectu...

Trade secret The term  “trade secret”  is not expressly defined in a singular, universal way, as it has evolved gradually at both the U.S. state and federal levels. It was first formally addressed in 1979, when the Uniform Law Commission published the  Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) . Later, in 2016, Congress enacted the  Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) , which provided additional definitions and federal-level protection. Various judicial interpretations have followed, but certain core elements remain consistent across definitions. A  trade secret  generally refers to confidential information that drives a business’s success and includes the following elements: The information is secret or not publicly known. It provides economic value or a competitive advantage in the market. The owner has taken reasonable steps to maintain its secrecy. As a general principle, almost every company possesses some form of trade secret. Trade secrets can include  anyth...