Copyright Protection in the Digital Environment: Indian Perspective and International Obligations

303-310With the advancement in the digital technology, the distribution of the copyrighted material on the internet has brought about a drastic change in the pre-existing laws. Unfair use and illegal downloading of copyrighted material such as software, videos, songs etc. have developed into a major problem in the digital domain. To overcome these problems several technological and legal measures have been taken up such as development of tools like Encryption, Digimarc, Watermark, besides framing of various international treaties and agreements including TRIPS, Anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA), WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT), WIPO Performance and Phonogram Treaty (WPPT) etc. Indian Copyright Act after amendment of 2012 seems to be effective enough to resolve the issues concerned with infringements in the digital domain hence debate is going on if India should sign WCT and WPPT and the matter is still under consideration of the Government of India. The development in the digital environment has altered the boundaries for the copyright holders to look at the protection of copyrighted material through various techniques. The present article deliberates about the Indian Copyright Act, various international copyright treaties, limitations and exceptions provided by TRIPS and also looks towards the usefulness of various treaties available for the digital domain. Furthermore, steps to control the misuse of copyrighted material are also discussed. The article concludes with some suggestions and ideas that could be useful for regulating the unfair use and illegal downloading of the copyrighted material

Interfacial and antibacterial properties of imidazolium based ionic liquids having different counterions with ciprofloxacin

The study of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) with ionic liquids (ILs) becomes a significant research area for pharmaceutical industry. Thus, the present study aims to study the physicochemical and biological behaviour of ionic liquids having different counter ions in presence of an antibacterial drug, ciprofloxacin (CIP). The interaction of CIP with ILs, 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [C10mim][BF4], 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide [C10mim][Br], and 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [C10mim][Cl] has been studied by utilising surface tension, conductivity and DLS techniques. The various interfacial and thermodynamic properties of pure ILs and their complexes with CIP have been investigated from surface tension data. The thermodynamic data thus obtained suggested that the interaction between ILs and CIP was spontaneous. The dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurement showed that the aggregates size of ILs increases in presence of CIP. The complexation of ILs and drug was further confirmed by zeta potential measurement. The combined analysis suggested that the drug molecules is solubilized within the micellar core of ILs due to hydrophobic interaction, however, few molecules reside in the upper palisade layer of micelle-water interface. In addition, we have also investigated the antibacterial activity of individual ILs and CIP against two clinically relevant microorganism, E. coli and S. aureus. The effect of ILs on antibacterial activity of CIP was determined against E. coli and S. aureus and results showed the remarkable improvement in the activity of CIP in the presence of imidazolium ILs. The maximum reduction in MIC was found in presence of [C10mim][BF4] was found as compared to [C10mim][Br]/[Dmim][Cl]. The results of the current study showed the importance of ILs in pharmaceutical industries

Development of Oxadiazole-Sulfonamide-Based Compounds as Potential Antibacterial Agents

In this work, substituted 1,2,4-oxadiazoles (OX1− OX27) were screened against five bacterial strains, identified to be OX7 and OX11 as growth inhibitors with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 31.25 and 15.75 μg/mL, respectively. The growth inhibitory property of OX7 and OX11 was further validated by disk diffusion, growth curve, and time kill curve assays. Both disrupted biofilm formation with 92−100% reduction examined by the XTT assay were further visualized by scanning electron microscopy analysis. These compounds in combination with ciprofloxacin also exhibit synergy against Escherichia coli cells. With insignificant cytotoxic behavior on HEK293 cells, human red blood cells, and Galleria mellonella larvae, OX11 was tested against 28 multidrug resistant environmental isolates of bacteria and showed inhibition of Kluyvera georgiana and Citrobacter werkmanii strains with 32 and 16 μg/mL MIC values, respectively. The synergistic behavior of OX11 with ampicillin showed many fold reductions in MIC values against K. georgiana and Klebsiella pneumoniae multidrug resistant strains. Further, transmission electron microscopy analysis of OX11-treated E. coli cells showed a significantly damaged cell wall, which resulted in the loss of integrity and cytosolic oozing. OX11 showed significant changes in the secondary structure of human serum albumin (HSA) in the presence of OX11, enhancing HSA stability. Overall, the study provided a suitable core for further synthetic alterations and development as an antibacterial agen