ONE-YEAR POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MEDIA LAWS

About the Course 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.

Eligibility :

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

b. Candidates appearing for the final year examination of Graduation are also eligible to apply; or

c. Candidates who complete three years of their 5-year integrated LLB Degree programme in Law are also eligible to apply.

Admission Procedure

Direct Admission subject to fulfillment of the eligibility criteria.

Course Duration

The duration of the programme is one year and the maximum period for completion of the programme is three years including the year of admission subject to payment of Continuation Fee as per the University Rules.

Fee Structure :

Course fee : Rs. 20,000/-

• Convocation fee will be charged separately as per the University Rules.
• Re-peat exam fee / Supplementary Exam fee will be charged @ Rs.500/- per paper
• Continuation fee beyond the minimum duration of the course till the maximum period is Rs.5000/- per year for Master’s Programme and Rs.3000/- per year for Post-Graduate Diploma Programmes.
• Boarding & Lodging charges at campus (subject to availability) during classes / exam will be extra as per the University Rules.

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

Course Structure  (Revised w.e.f 2019-20 Batch)

The courses syllabus is broadly devided into four Subjects:

Conduct of the Programme

Print Media -The candidates will be provided with the print copies of reading materials prepared by Subject experts. The reading material covers the detailed syllabi of the course. Such materials have to be supplemented by the candidate with their own readings in the internet or other available materials.

Online Support -A dedicated website www.nalsarpro.org has been registered. The candidates will get the services 24 hours throughout the year to access the soft copy of the reading materials, the power point presentations and video lectures of the contact seminar classes and previous year question papers which are uploaded in the website. The web site will be the main delivery system in terms of updating information on the subject. The access to the website will be deactivated after the completion of the course duration and will be revived on continuation of the course after payment of the Continuation fee.

Contact Seminar Classes - Direct face to face Contact Seminar classes will held for four days, twice during the course on weekends at Hyderabad. The attendance to contact seminar classes is not compulsory, but it is strongly advisable to the candidates to attend the same, as they are important to understand and successfully complete the course. The recorded videos of the classes will be uploaded on the dedicated website for the convenience of the candidates who could not attend the classes.

Evaluation Scheme (Revised w.e.f 2019-20 Batch)

Based on the above 4 subjects, End-term written examination to be as below:

Award of Grades

The performance of the students would be evaluated on with corresponding grades as mentioned below:

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

In order to be successful in a paper, a candidate shall be required to obtain at least 50% marks in it i.e. a grade equal to or higher than B.

Once a candidate attempts a paper and is declared as 'Failed (F)', his/her grade shall carry ® with the grade obtained later.

The Grade card can be collected in person and shall also be sent to the candidate by post/courier.

The Transcript can be obtained by sending a written request to the Director after payment of the prescribed fee by the university.

Award of the PG Diploma

A candidate shall be declared to have passed the diploma course and become eligible for the award of the PG Diploma, if he/she secures not less than 50% marks in each paper.

However, a candidate failing in the examination can seek re-examination in the subsequent exam by paying the prescribed Continuation Fee and examination fees, as applicable.

Procedure for Re-counting / Re-evaluation

The candidates desiring of revaluation have to apply along with re-evaluation fee within 15 days from the date of declaration of results by written submission to the Director. On receipt of request for revaluation, the paper would be sent to subject expert other than the evaluator and the results of the same will be communicated within 45 days. The Re-evaluation result is final and there will be no further appeal to the same.

No candidate who has secured 50 marks or above in the examination 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 by the candidate.

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 enrollment if he or she is found to be indulging in abusive, unruly behavior with the faculty or staff of the University. Such behaviors will also include abusive mails, phone calls or defamatory posts or blogs.

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

 Refund of fee in case of withdrawal of admission

In case of withdrawal before the commencement of face to face contact sessions, 10% of the course fee / Course fee for the first year shall be retained by the University towards administrative charges;

In respect of students who withdraw their candidature after the first round of face to face contact sessions, total course fee / total course fee for the first year shall be retained by the University towards administrative charges;

P.G.Diploma in Media Laws

Faculty

In-House Faculty :

Prof. (Dr.) Faizan Mustafa
Professor & Director (Officiating)
Directorate of Distance Education, NALSAR

Prof. Faizan Mustafa is a senior law teacher and renowned jurist of constitutional law, who is presently working as the Vice- Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad which is country’s leading National Law University and has emerged as the most sought after destination of legal education in the entire South Asia.He has recently been unanimously elected as Vice President/ President Elect of the prestigious Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (SICI), which was incorporated in Canada in 1968 and is bi-national organization of Canadian and Indian governments. Earlier, he was the Founder Vice-Chancellor of National Law University, Orissa where he had put to use the concept of ‘integration of knowledge’ and introduced highly innovative legal education curricula. He integrated B.A.LL.B with BBA.LL.B and allowed students of one stream to take courses of the other stream. For the first time in India he introduced the specialization of Legal Journalism at NLUO. He is the Advisor to National Law School & Judicial Academy, Assam. He is known for his institution building abilities and democratic leadership. He is also visiting faculty to several reputed institutions in India and abroad.

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As Founder Director of KIIT Law School, Bhubaneshwar, he experimented with a novel B.Sc. LL.B course with six papers in Biotechnology and three in Environmental Science to cater the needs of patent lawyering.

Prior to that he was the Dean, Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University where he introduced courses like IPR Law, Human Rights Law and Tourism Laws. He also served with distinction as Registrar of Aligarh Muslim University. Aligarh Muslim University is listed in the Indian Constitution as an ‘institution of national importance’ and its Law School is consistently ranked among the top ten Law Schools of the country.

He has written eight books and contributed more than 150 articles. Supreme Court of India has also quoted him. His articles have also been quoted in several other countries. He is also writing a volume on the Reinstatement of Indian Laws which is a huge project of the Supreme Court of India and Indian Law Institute. He was also one of the contributor to famous Encyclopedia of Legal History published by the Oxford University Press, United States of America.

Prof. Mustafa always picked up challenging and unexplored areas for his research and publications. He campaigned for the enactment of Right to Information Act as he had written two books on this new subject way back in 1996 and 2003. He had also worked in the new area of Copyright Law and was awarded Ph.D. in the Intellectual Property Law in 1996. He has also written a book on Religious Conversion Law. India’s only book on ‘Strict Liability in Criminal Law’ was written by him in 1991 and he was awarded Commonwealth British Fellowship to further pursue this subject. Health Care Law is another area on which not much has been written in India but he had written a book on “Aids, Law and Human Rights” in 1998. India still does not have a law on HIV. The HIV Bill is likely to be passed by the Parliament in 2017. He has also written a book on the dismissal of state governments by the centre under Article 356. He has been consistently writing on the controversial issue of Retention of Death Penalty in India. In one of his articles on Mandatory Death Sentence, he has demonstrated that in spite of Supreme Court of India holding mandatory death sentence as unconstitutional there are number of Statutes which continue to provide for mandatory death penalty. He had written a research paper on the need of recognizing ‘Domestic Work’ as work in 1995. It was only in 2012 that Ministry of Social Welfare, Government of India agreed to bring a Bill on this issue though the Bill was not eventually passed. He has also written on Data Protection Laws and compared laws of 44 countries. India still does not have a separate Data Protection Act which is the need of the hour for a cashless economy in digital India. He has also written papers on Muslim Law to demonstrate that Muslim Personal Law is neither ‘law’ nor ‘sacred’ and many of its features are at variance with Islamic Law. He regularly writes in the national dailies on current issues and his articles appear in all leading newspapers of the country.

He is the Member of several Governing Councils (Courts), Executive Councils and Academic Councils of various Universities. He is the nominee of Chief Justice of India to several Councils and Committees. He is also Visitor’s nominee in number of universities. He has also been the Member of search committees for the appointment of the Vice-Chancellors. He was conferred the SAARC’s Best Law Teacher Award in 2014.

By virtue of his seniority as Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mustafa has now become member of General Council of Association of Indian Universities (AIU).

He lives in Hyderabad with his wife Ms. Ira Khan, who teaches Botany.

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.