Anshuman Sahoo

In the earlier part to this post, we explored why celebrities are frequently surrounded by controversies, often willingly. In this part, we dig deeper into the question of celebrityhood or stardom. Why is it that we see star actors only? Why doesn't my barber get the status of a star even if he is arguably as good in his field as is Chris Hemworth in his? Is it about the man or the profession? This can be explained by the differences that exist between the two markets that my barber and Chris Hemsworth cater to.  In every market, every customer wants to avail the services of the best producer/service provider. At the same time, every customer (almost) wants it at the lowest possible cost. In the film industry, both of these criteria can be satisfied easily, thanks to the innovation of modern technological progress. When Chris Hemsworth performs, billions of people worldwide can watch him at the same time: there's no limit on the maximum number of customers he can serve at a gi

Of the 15 pages of news I get on my daily newspaper for 5 rupees, at least one page is dedicated to celebrities, particularly those from the film industry. If we dig deeper, there isn't a dearth of news focus on these celebrities. Starting from what Kanye West commented to what Kangana Ranaut did, news channels are always on their toes to report everything they could find at the first instance.  But what is so intriguing about the cultural industry that continuously keeps courting controversies? There sure are other industries that should be more important to us as a society, like the R&D industry or the non-profit sector. And there, of course, are more popular topics like defence and politics. But why is it that the B-town always gets to the limelight? Interestingly, there might be an economic rationale behind the same! In the course of our discussion on ' why celebrities are always in the limelight ', we'll proceed in two steps: First, we'll see why controvers

In response to the COVID crisis, brands have been swift in customising their logos to spread awareness among their customers. Or, seemingly at least. Here are a few examples: Why are they doing this? More importantly, what are the likely consequences? An article on a leading national daily argues that it's an example of Good Governance, and is immensely helpful for spreading awareness among the loyal customer bases. While that might be true to some extent, the legal implications are far more complicated. A month back, a post on SpicyIP delineated the possible legal implications of such logo variations, primarily focusing on those relating to trademark jurisprudence. Here is my take on why such a trend in trademark jurisprudence might be concerning.  Read the full reply here .