ONE YEAR ADVANCED DIPLOMA IN MEDIA LAWS

About the Programme

'Media' the popular term inter-alia used as 'Press' denotes the print & electronic information carriers the News Papers & Magazines, Radio, Television and currently includes Internet as new Media. Hailed as the 'Fourth Estate', media is the watchdog of the public affairs, informing the society and vice versa acts as the forum to advocate the views of the society at large to those at the helm of public affairs.

Media today, has grown into a complex information vehicle adding information relating to business, entertainment, education and sports. Apart from the complexity of the content, the technology side of the Media has taken phenomenal strides with the advent of Internet to enter a phenomenon termed as 'Convergence'.

In Indian context the print media and its interface with Law has a long tradition, whereas broadcasting sectors of Radio and Television and emerging new Media of Internet is still an evolving one. The Media practitioners, Lawyers, Educationists relating to Mass Communications need to understand the Legal Framework that is operational and the emerging debate of restructuring such legal framework. This Course will help them to equip with the current legal regime on Media and the emerging one, which is going to play a crucial role.

With the advent of Internet the convergence of the Information, Communication and Entertainment has led to the label ‘New Media’ where the publication has been instantaneous at almost zero cost. Nevertheless the issues of freedom of expression vs. objectionable materials have sharpened in this development. The concept of the ‘social media’ has added a new dimension to that of the ‘traditional media’. The attempt to regulate the same has resulted in opening up new dimensions of censorship and public expression.

This course modified regularly to incorporate the new changes will sensitize and expose media professionals including the editorial and the advertising professionals, Public Information officers, Policy makers and Legal professionals on the dynamic and evolving media law space.

This course is structured to cater the professional needs of the working professionals in the print and electronic media industry, Advertising agencies and legal professionals.

Eligibility

a. Bachelor’s Degree or an equivalent Degree in any discipline from any recognized University; or

b. Candidates who complete three years of their 5-Year Integrated Degree Programme are also eligible to apply; or

c. Candidates appearing for the final year examination of Graduation / Engineering are also eligible to apply.

Admission Procedure

Direct Admission subject to fulfillment of the eligibility criteria.

Duration, Continuation and Termination

The duration of the programme is one year and the maximum period for completion of the programme is two years including the year of admission.

Every candidate admitted to the course shall pay the prescribed fees at the time of admission. If a candidate is required to continue the course beyond the academic year because of his/her non- fulfillment of the prescribed requirements for the award of the Advanced Diploma, he/she shall pay the Continuation Fee to continue their course in the subsequent year.

The marks secured in the papers already appeared by the candidate shall be carried forward during the span of the eligibility for the programme.

After completion of the maximum period, if the candidate fails to fulfill all the requirements for the award of the Advanced Diploma, the admission stands automatically cancelled. In such cases they need to enrol afresh for the programme.

Fee Structure :

Course fee: Rs. 20,000/- p.a. (5% fee concession to the candidates belonging to SC / ST / PWD Category)

• Repeat examination / Supplementary Examination fee : Rs.500/- per paper
• Continuation fee beyond the minimum duration of the course till the maximum period : Rs.3,000/- per year
• Re-evaluation Fee : Rs. 1,000/- per paper
• Boarding & Lodging charges at campus (subject to availability) during classes / exam will be extra as per the University Rules.
• Convocation fee will be charged separately as per the University Rules.

Note: The University reserves the right to revise the Fee structure from time to time.

Course Structure

Conduct of the programme

The Advanced Diploma Programme will be for a period of one year. Personal Contact Programme(PCP) sessions will be held twice in a year by the subject experts. Relevant course material will be uploaded on the website and can be accessed through their login id. The Self Learning Materials (Reading Materials) printed copies will be sent to the enrolled candidates.

PCP sessions will be conducted for four days twice in a year at Hyderabad by the subject experts. Suggested reference guidance would be provided at the contact sessions. Each subject shall consist of 12 teaching hours which will come to 48 teaching hours for the total programme.The recorded videos of the classes will be uploaded on the dedicated website and can be accessed by the candidates through their login ids.Attendance at the PCP is not compulsory but candidates are advised to attend the classes.as they are important to understand the subject and successfully complete the course. The learners are also expected to put in at least 30 hours of study for each credit.

The website will be the main delivery system in terms of updating the information on the subject. The access to the website will be deactivated after the completion of the minimum duration and will be revived on the payment of the continuation fee.

Academic Calendar (Tentative)

Admission Process From February to June every year

Note : The PCP Sessions (classes) will be conducted in blended mode (online / physical) at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. However, the examinations will be conducted physically at Hyderabad only.

Evaluation Scheme& Award of Advanced Diploma

Examination:

There will be one annual examination for each subject. Each paper shall carry 100 marks.

Award of Grades

The performance of all the candidates in all courses shall be evaluated on a 10 point scale with corresponding grade values as mentioned below:

Calculation of CGPA

Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is arrived at by dividing the sum of the products of Grade Values and the Course Credits in each subject by the total number of credits in all the subjects.

A candidate to be successful should obtain a minimum of 50% marks or the equivalent grade, i.e., B in every subject. However, the candidate who fails to obtain the minimum grade (i.e., B) shall be given chance(s) to re-appear for the examination whenever the same is conducted till the completion of the maximum period, i.e., two years from the date of admission on payment of repeat / supplementary examination feeand the continuation fee as prescribed. No candidate who has cleared the subject by securing 50 marks or above is allowed to re-appear in the examination for improving the marks / grade.

Rounding off and Award of Grace Marks

In case a candidate obtains fractional marks, the fraction will be rounded off to the nearest whole number.

The Course Coordinator with the approval of the Director, DDE may add FIVE grace marks in total for all the subjects to enable a candidate to pass the examination. The said provision will not be applicable in case of re-evaluation and/or for improvement of grade.

Provided that under no circumstances, a candidate shall be granted more than five grace marks to be distributed in all subjects.

Award of the Advanced Diploma Certificate

A candidate to be eligible for the award of the Advanced Diploma in Media Laws should secure 50% marks or ‘B’ grade in all the subjects obtaining atleast CGPA of 5.50 out of 10.00.

A candidate admitted to the program has to complete all the prescribed requirements within a maximum period of two years from and including the year of admission in order to be eligible for the award of the Advanced Diploma.

Procedure for Re-counting / Re-evaluation

The candidates desiring of re-evaluation have to apply in writing along with the re-evaluation fee within 15 days from the date of declaration of results.On the receipt of the request for re-evaluation, the paper would be sent to subject expert other than the evaluator and the results of the same will be communicated within 45 days. A change in the original score shall be made only when, upon re-evaluation, the change is FIVE marks or more. The Re-evaluation result is final and there will be no further appeal to the same.

No candidate who has cleared the subject by securing 50 marks or above is allowed to re-appear in the examination or apply for re-evaluation for improving marks/grade.

The recounting of the paper would be done without collecting any fee but on the written request to the Director, DDE by the candidate. The change, if any, shall be incorporated accordingly.

Misconduct Rules

The Vice-Chancellor on the report and recommendation of the Course Co-ordinator can cancel the registration of a candidate and also debar them from examinations and further enrolment if he or she is found to be indulging in abusive, unruly behavior with the faculty or staff of the University. Such behavior will also include abusive mails, phone calls or defamatory tweets / posts / blogs etc.

The NALSAR University Academic Mis-Conduct Regulations, as approved by the Executive Council of the University will apply suitably for the candidates enrolled for this programme.

Refund of Fee in case of withdrawal of admission

a) In case of withdrawal within 15 days from the closure of the admission, 10% of the coursefee paid shall be retained by the University towards administrative charges;

b) In respect of candidates who withdraw their candidature after 15 days from the closure of admission, total course fee paid by the candidates shall be retained by the University.

c) All other fee other than course fee, once paid is non-refundable.

Note:The University reserves the right to modify the admission process, fee structure, course structure, course content, the evaluation scheme and other Rules from time to time.

ONE YEAR ADVANCED DIPLOMA IN MEDIA LAWS

Faculty

In-House Faculty :

Prof.V.C.Vivekanandan (On lien)
IPR Chair Professor, NALSAR & Director,
Directorate of Distance Education

Prof.V.C.Vivekanandan received his PhD in Intellectual Property Laws and also holds his Master’s in Corporate Law & Securities and a Master’s in Public Administration.

Prof.V.C.Vivekanandan is on lien and has joined as the Founder Dean of the School of Law, of Bennett University an initiative of the Times of India Group from June 2017. He was the IPR Chair Professor of the Ministry of HRD at NALSAR and also the Director of the Directorate of Distance Education at NALSAR. He teaches IPR, Artificial Intelligence & law, Entertainment Law. He was also the Centre Head of the NC Banerjee Centre for IP Studies and the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law.

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He was the official Indian Delegate for negotiations on Copyright and Related Rights at WIPO Geneva from December 2013 to December 2015.

He serves as an Adjunct Visiting Professor of Buffalo University, SUNY, New York since 2007 and also a visiting professor to various institutes in India and abroad. He served as the Asia Pacific representative of ALAC in ICANN and also was a member of the Nominating Committee of ICANN in between 2008-2011.

He was a NWO-ICSSR research fellow with Maastricht University in 2010 and the Research Fellow with the Institute of Intellectual Property at Tokyo in 2015.

He served as the Dean of the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law at IIT Kharagpur in 2009-2010 and also as the Head of the Distance Education Department at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore in 2009.

His non-law interests include music, cinema and travel.

Prof. K. Vidyullatha Reddy
Professor of Law
NALSAR University of Law

Prof. K.Vidyullatha Reddy specializes in Environmental Law and is the Head, Centre for Environmental Studies, NALSAR University of Law. She teaches Environmental Law, Banking and Finance. She has over eighteen years of teaching experience. She has published a book on Municipal Solid Waste – Law and Practice besides research papers on environmental law. She is the editor-in-chief of Environmental Law and Practice Review (ELPR) the university environment centre journal.

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She has been actively involved in various research projects undertaken by the University. She submitted a project report on solid waste management in Hyderabad city to Ministry of Environment and Forests. She participated in Law Teaching and Legal Research Skills Program at Cardiff University, U.K. She has coordinated an International Conference on Consumer Law held at Hyderabad organized in association with International Association of Consumer Law (IACL) and coedited a book from the conference proceedings titled Global Perspectives on Consumer Law

She coordinated training programs offered by the University to advocates. She has initiated the setting up of legal aid cell and also coordinates the legal aid activities of the University. She is actively involved in outreach programs and laid foundation for setting up legal aid clinics within and outside the University. She is nominated as member of environment panel of Andhra Pradesh State Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry. She worked as an examination committee convener and Chairperson of the Centre for Post Graduate Legal Education.

Mr.Sourabh Bharti
Assistant Professor
NALSAR University of Law

Mr.Sourabh Bharti did his B.Sc. from Govt. Gandhi Memorial College, Jammu, J&K, and LL.B. from Faculty of Law, University of Delhi and LL.M. from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.

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He teaches Intellectual Property Rights ; Administrative Law; Biogenetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge ; Law of Copyright; Law of Trademarks at LL.M. level at NALSAR.

Visiting Faculty :

M.Sridhar Acharyulu
Information Commissioner

Professor (Dr.) Madabhushanam Sridhar Acharyulu (known with pen name Madabhushi Sridhar) is an Author of 30 books on Law & Journalism both in English and Telugu languages. He was professor of law at National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University of Law at Hyderabad till 20th November 2013 which he resigned to take up the position of Central Information Commissioner at New Delhi on 22nd November 2013.

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He wrote four books on Right to Information subject. He was a resource person at training workshops on Right to Information for the Information Commissioners organized by National Law School of India, Bengaluru and Center for Good Governance, Hyderabad. He was training different administrative officers, scientists, engineers and academicians at Administrative Staff College of India ASCI Hyderabad on RTI. Some of his popular books are: Right to Information-Law and Practice, Nirbhaya Act, Legal Language, Law of Expression, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Professor Sridhar is given Best Teacher Award by Andhra Pradesh Government in September 2013.

A double post graduate with LL.M., and M.C.J (Journalism) from Osmania University, Madabhushi achieved FIVE Gold Medals in all. Madabhushi has penned more than 100 research articles, developed lessons in Media Law and Journalism, presented papers at International and National Seminars on subjects of socio-legal importance and a columnist both in English and Vernacular Telugu on socio-legal issues in Daily Newspapers and the web journals. He wrote edit page articles in Eenadu, the Largest Circulated Telugu Daily and Property Law matters in Deccan Chronicle, Indian Express, The Hindu and The Hans India, Hyderabad. Besides, he also designed and presented various legal awareness programs on popular tv channels like ETV and HMTV. His BhoomiKosam(=for land) program on HMTV has spread awareness about land rights in AP. He wrote several articles on media and law in www.thehoot.org and indiacurrentaffairs.org websites.

At NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad, he was coordinator of Center for Media Law and Public Policy and Registrar, Coordinator of NALSAR Proximate Education, MHRD Chair Professor of IPR in 2009-10. Prior to 2005 he was engaged by AP Government to draft legislation on Right to Information Bill. He led the teams to draft the legislations on Right to Redressal of Grievances, Rent Controls, Abolition of Child Labour and Compulsory Education, for Andhra Pradesh Government. For International Water Management Institute (IWMI) he studied thousand judgments of District Courts on enhancement of compensation for Land Acquisition, and presented an analytical report, based on which a paper also was presented at International Workshop on Inter-linking of Rivers and Issues, at New Delhi in 2009. For ILO he studied the status of Contract Labour in Andhra Pradesh in 2008. Dr. Madabhushi is also associated with the efforts of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in evolving recommendations on education of children to abolish child labour.

Born on 10th November 1956 to Freedom Fighter and Founder Editor of Janadharma Weekly and Warangal Vani Daily, Late M. S. Acharya and Mrs. Ranganayakamma, Dr Sridhar is educated in Masoom Ali High School, AVV Junior College, CKM College, Law College Warangal, and Osmania University, Hyderabad.

Mr.G.R.Raghavender
Joint Secretary, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice at Government of India
Former- Registrar of Copyrights

Mr.G. R. Raghavender is currently is a civil servant from Central Secretariat Service (CSS) 1988. At present, he is posted as Joint Secretary, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India, New Delhi. Previously, he was Joint Secretary in Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, New Delhi from August 2015 to January 2017. He also held additional charge of Director General, National Productivity Council (NPC) from November 2015 to May 2016.

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He is very passionate about Intellectual Property Rights, especially Copyright and Related Rights. He worked as Registrar of Copyrights of the Indian Copyright Office for about 6 and 1/2 years and played a key role in the introduction of amendments to the Copyright Act in 2012 and introduction of the Copyright Rules, 2013. He also initiated online registration for copyright along with payment gateway and digitisation of documents in the Copyright Office in 2014. Further, he took the initiative to adopt a special logo and got ISO-9001 certification for this office.

He attended many WIPO SCCR meetings, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Free Trade negotiation and other FTA negotiations as a member of the Indian delegation. He made significant contributions to recently concluded two WIPO Treaties namely, the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, 2012 and the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled, 2013. As a WIPO resource person and expert in the copyright law contributed to the revision of the copyright legislations of Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. As a resource person, he gives lectures/talks on Copyrights and Related Rights in various International and National seminars and workshops organised by WIPO, Geneva and also in several Universities and Institutes all over India.

Mr.R.Muralidharan
Advocate, Law Lecturer
Patent & Trademark Attorney
Manu Associates Bangalore

Mr. R. Muralidharan is an Advocate, Law Lecturer, Registered Patent Agent & Mediator.
He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Chemistry (1976) and a Masters Degree in International Law and Constitutional Law.(1980). As a final year Law student, Mr. Muralidharan represented India in the Philip. C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition held at Washington D.C. USA (March 1979).

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Subsequently, Mr. Murali had also participated in a Programme on Intellectual Property Law organized by Washington Graduate School (USDA) during April 1988. He had also attended the International Law Seminar organized under the aegis of International Law Commission at Palais De Nations, Geneva, Switzerland (1991).

Mr. Muralidharan was earlier one of the founding faculty members of National Law School of India, Bangalore and worked for 4 years as Assistant Professor. Acts regularly as a guest faculty in NALSAR Hyderabad, IIM Bangalore, NLSIU Bangalore, and National Law University Jodhpur, Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad and many others. He has published many articles in National and International journals and has been instrumental in improving the literacy of Intellectual Property Rights and Cyber legal regimes in India by being a Visiting Faculty in NALSAR PRO Patents, Cyber and Media Laws P. G Diploma courses.

He is also a Life member. Indian Society of International law, N.Delhi-1, Mediator. Bangalore Mediation Centre(an initiative of Karnataka High Court Bangalore).He regularly attends and acts as Resource Person in Professional Improvement Programs on IP Law, Environmental law and International Trade law.