Introduction

Entertainment Industry has been a part of modern society for centuries in various forms like story-telling, musical performance, dramatics, and dancing which have existed in the history of mankind from all cultures. These forms have in due course of time developed into a much more sophisticated as well technologically advanced form and are now available to a much larger audience. The birth of the modern entertainment industry is considered to be in the year 1896, when a new form of recreational activity took birth in the Ellicott Square Building on Main Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America. In India, the entertainment industry has also taken multiple forms in the last few centuries. But the latest modern entertainment industry started taking its hold in the first decade of the twentieth century.

The core structure of this Entertainment Industry is the creativity and innovation that is applied for the formation and creation of the media content. These creative and innovative aspects are protected by the tools laid under Intellectual Property Rights. Copyright and publicity rights are considered to be the most important intellectual property rights in the media and entertainment industry, nevertheless, there remains an important role for other forms of rights as well including patents. Although in the Indian context, there are no unique or special patents dealing with the working of Indian Entertainment, one cannot rule out the application of patents of the global entertainment industry. In the case of patents in the global entertainment industry, the protection under patents is primarily limited to technological innovations that are applied in the creation of content and the delivery of the same. In the last few decades, there has been a rise in patented technologies that are used in audio systems, 3-D projections, digital content creation, animation, motion capture as well as data compression. All these technological advancements would help in improving the consumer experience and also ease the distribution of entertainment content.

Patents in the entertainment industry have always had a serious impact on consumer experience. Various interesting patents are owned by famous entertainers, for example, the patent on musical instrument support held by Eddie Van Halen and the patent on ballet toe shoes held by Bill Nye. Patents in the entertainment industry are usually given to musical instruments, which help as tuner or audio supporter as well as high-quality content recording. Another field in the entertainment industry where patents are granted is the technological advancement in the content distribution and display on portable devices like mobiles, digital pads through the internet supported platforms. There have been multiple patents that have been landmark trendsetters in the entertainment industry. Another major sector of the entertainment industry is the pop-culture sector which has been given life by the deceased King of Pop, late Michael Jackson. In one of his dance steps, he leaned forward 45 degrees, which apparently defied gravity. Unknown to many this step was possible due to a specially designed shoe which was the fruits of efforts applied by Michael Jackson and his co-inventor. The shoe worked in the following manner: a slot in the shoe’s heel fixed into a bolt, which was raised through the stage floor when needed. When the heel is locked in the raised bolt, the performer could lean forward into the attached ankle straps. Michael Jackson and his co-inventor were granted a patent by the United States Patents and Trademark Office with the title “the Method and Means for Creating Anti-Gravity Illusion”; Patent no. 5255452 which was issued on 26th October 1993.

Another major patent in the entertainment industry is that of the Amusement Pod Entertainment Centre, which is held by Peter Ciarrocchi, bearing Patent no. 8579685 with the title “An Amusement Pod Entertainment Centre”. It is an internet-based platform that helps to fuse the physical entertainment experience along with virtual reality technology. The center helps the users to use individual virtual pods which enable them to experience a variety of custom-made virtual reality-based environments.

Wearable technologies have brought around a revolutionary change in the audio entertainment industry. Wearable technologies tend to be very attractive to music lovers. One such technology was granted patent with the title “Garment with integrated headphones” which was granted in the early 21st century and bore the Patent no. 8411891. The traditional technology of using loose and detachable earphones caused several physical as well as technical issues like wire entanglement as well as serious wear and tear due to regular interaction with the external environment. This patented product changed the whole system by changing the mechanism of using earphones. As per this product, the earphone wires which were integrated with the clothing garment would easily get detached from the portable electronic devices as well as other ports where the wires are used. The garment would act as a functional yet fashionable solution to the issues raised due to the wires of the earphones. The garments incorporated concealed earphones into any article of clothing which does not need any extra external tube, cords, or unwanted external materialistic passageway. Unlike the traditional earphones, they have wires which are virtually not detachable from the garment. 

Conclusion

It can, therefore, be stated that patents do have an important contribution and role in the entertainment industry. As society is striving to go digital on almost the full scale, the entertainment industry also needs to evolve and accept innovation in almost all sectors of the industry.

-Ishaan Michael

KIIT School of Law