About CIPS
CIPS was established in 2018 with the aim to promote research and studies in the field of Intellectual Property Rights. The Centre also monitors, designs and disseminates various courses and programmes pertaining to training and research in intellectual Property Rights.

Eligibility Criteria
The competition is open to law students pursuing 3 year LL.B. Course, 5 year integrated LL.B. course and LL.M. students enrolled in any recognized university of India.

Background to the Theme
Copyright Societies play a major role in facilitation of licenses of works for the purpose of reproduction, performance and communication to the public. At present there are three registered societies in India as per the Copyright Office data – Indian Reprographic Rights Organisation (IRRO), The Indian Performing Right Society Ltd. (IPRS) and The Indian Singers’ Rights Association (ISRA). Apart from these, there are other unregistered institutions like Phonographic Performance Ltd. India (PPL), Novex Communications Pvt. Ltd. which are playing out the role of Copyright Societies. The ISRA is the only registered Performers’ Society in India.
These institutions play a very significant role towards the collection and distribution of revenue from authorized utilization of works and performances. While the registration of such societies is mandatory under The Copyright Act, 1957, we see certain institutions acting outside this mandate. This in itself may pose problems, as it can raise questions on transparency of management.
There are other noteworthy issues raised by artists and prospective licensees. In an article published in the Economic Times in December 2019, the report covered event organisers and club owners voicing concerns and confusion on who to pay and how much to pay for using sound recordings. Amidst the pandemic another issue which surfaced concerned the exorbitant tariffs proposed to be levied on live-streaming forcing a rollback from the IPRS. For an institution so important in the field of Copyright and Related Rights, these issues have the capacity of creating a very difficult environment for all concerned.

Essay Topics
The essay topic shall be based on the theme of the competition - Copyright Societies and Performers’ Rights Societies in India. The author may choose any relevant research question connected to the theme and provide a succinctly worded work. The essay will be the original work of the author. It should add something new and valuable to the discourse on the theme in India.

Registration Process
1. Registration is mandatory for participating in the competition.
2. Each entry shall pay a registration fee of Rs. 500 at the following link (To Pay, Click Here) at ‘Payment Other than Semester Fee’ specifying the purpose of payment as ‘CIPS Essay Competition’.
3. Once the registration fee is paid, the payment receipt shall be e-mailed at cips@nlujodhpur.ac.in. The subject of the e-mail shall be ‘Registration Receipt: Essay Competition’.

Submission Guidelines
1. Submissions must be made only in MS-Word format (.doc/.docx). Submissions in PDF form will not be accepted.
2. Submissions must be in English language.
3. Submissions shall be typewritten in an A4 sized document with 1 inch margin on all sides. The text of the submission shall be in Times New Roman, font size 12. Apart from headings, the text should be justified.
4. The footnotes shall be in Times New Roman, font size 10 and must be justified. Further, the style of citation should be uniform throughout the document.
5. The text of the submission should be 1.5 spaced except the footnotes which may be single-spaced.
6. Word limit of the submission is 1,500 words (excluding footnotes).
7. Co-authorship is not allowed.
8. Submission must be original and unpublished. Any instance of plagiarism will result in disqualification of the submission.
9. Registration prior to the submission is mandatory.
10. Entries received after the due date, i.e., later than 11:59 pm on 27th September, 2020 will not be considered for the competition.
11. By way of submission, authors of the essays which are awarded prize money and
certificates of merit, agree that CIPS shall have a non-exclusive right of reproduction an  communication to the public of the essay.
12. In case of any conflict, CIPS will be the final authority on guidelines.

Evaluation Criteria
1. Any instance of plagiarism will result in disqualification of the submission.
2. The submissions will be judged on the conceptualization, structure, articulation of the contentions and feasibility of suggestions.
3. Submissions shall be evaluated by experts on the law of Intellectual Property Rights.

Submission Process
1. Submission of essays shall be made in soft copies to cips@nlujodhpur.ac.in. The subject of the mail should be ‘Submission: Essay Writing Competition 2020’.
2. The submissions shall be accompanied by a document containing the biographical information of the author, including the following:
i. Name of the participant
ii. Year and course (UG/PG)
iii. Name of the University
iv. Contact details (Phone Number and Email Id)
The name of the participant or any other information that reveals his/her identity should not be mentioned anywhere in the main submission.
3. The title of the submission shall be the name of the document submitted as the entry.

Important Dates
1. Last date of registration: September 20th, 2020 (11:59 pm)
2. Last date of submitting manuscripts: September 27th, 2020 (11:59 pm)
3. Declaration of results: October 10th, 2020

Prize Details
1. The first, second and third prizes are worth ₹5000/-, ₹3000/- and ₹2000/- respectively.
2. Top 6 submissions including the prize-winning essays will be awarded e-certificates of Merit. Their entries will also be published on The NLUJ Centre for Intellectual Property Studies Blog to be launched soon.
3. All Entries will be awarded e-certificates of participation.

Contact Persons
Any queries may be directed to cips@nlujodhpur.ac.in or the following:
1. Harshita Jaiman, Convenor, CIPS (+91-9829463431)
2. Janhavi Somvanshi, Member, CIPS (+91-8874911952)
3. Kirti Harit, Member, CIPS (+91-7060804553)

To Download Official Brochure, Click Here