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Intellectual property in literary, dramatic or musical works in India is protected under the Copyright Act, 1957. With the development of the entertainment industry and competition between entertainment channels for a larger share of the Indian market, copyright issues have assumed greater significance in the entertainment industry. Although, no copyright exists for ideas, concepts or themes that are sufficiently developed so they could be realized as a television programme, are capable of being the subject of confidential information. Protection available to such ideas or concepts under the Copyright Act may vary depending on whether or not the concept as developed and evolved is the result of the work done by the person who conceived the original idea by applying some novel thoughts which distinguishes it from simple ideas.

David Becker, the general counsel of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) until May 7, is to join Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Becker will join the firm's securities transaction and enforcement practice as a partner in Washington DC, where he will advise clients on capital markets activities, representing clients in SEC and other investigations, on corporate governance issues and in other SEC regulatory matters.

The CMS alliance is expanding its presence in China after relocating UK, French and German lawyers to the new Shanghai office of Bureau Francis Lefebvre. CMS's French member opened its first Chinese operation this month to focus on corporate and commercial work, insurance and construction, after being awarded a licence by the Chinese Ministry of Justice at the end of 2001.

Lori Richards, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Compliance Inspections and Examinations Office, has called for brokers to cooperate more closely to combat money-laundering. Richards said the SEC "found the need for great improvement" when examining the types of reports that clearing brokers provide to introducing brokers, and whether they could be used to detect money-laundering activity.

The US government has called on Japan to overhaul its rules on cross-border share swaps in mergers and acquisitions. Foreign businesses operating in Japan have long called on the Japanese government to liberalize the range of options open to them to finance deals. Japanese law does not allow cross-border exchange of shares if the deal involves Japanese and foreign companies, although domestic companies can exchange shares between themselves.

The collapse of Enron in the US has led some Asian leaders to question the rationale for deregulating their own energy industries. Peter Roberts, of Jones Day’s Hong Kong office, says delays could be costly

Recent action by New York's attorney general against Merrill Lynch has cast doubt over the regulation of analysts everywhere. Wall Street firms have scrambled to announce new initiatives to guarantee the objectivity of their stock-dealing advice. The SEC has issued tougher rules to govern research, and regulators in Europe have said they will consider the issue, too. IFLR invited seven leading figures from the London markets to discuss the problem

A panel of lawyers in Japan has proposed changes to corporate bankruptcy law to better protect secured creditors. The proposals aim to prevent income streams that should be used to repay investors in a securitization from being distributed to unsecured creditors.

The EU has rushed through laws that will create uniform rules to allow all companies to use collateral to support cross-border payment and security transactions, so long as the counterparty is a bank or financial institution. The European Parliament fast-tracked the collateral directive through the legislative process as a priority part of the Financial Services Action Plan, which aims to create a single European market for financial services by late 2003.

The Australian treasurer may prohibit a foreign investment or order the investor to divest other interests if the deal is considered contrary to the national interest. The treasurer's powers and the notification and review procedures for proposed acquisitions of Australian land or businesses (subject to certain thresholds) are set out in the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (the Act).