Worldwide: Advertising, Marketing & Branding

Zee Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against Nykaa for using copyrighted songs in Instagram reels without proper commercial licensing, seeking $200,000 in damages. The case highlights a critical gap in how brands use social media music libraries: while Instagram permits personal use of licensed music, commercial content requires separate synchronisation licenses that most brands fail to obtain.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (‘DPDPA’) and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (‘Rules’) have been published in the Gazette in November 2025.

In India, as in many other jurisdictions, the trade marks registration process has clearly been demarcated into specific stages, uniquely balancing the rights and interests of third-parties and the applicants.

The way that India generally approaches gambling laws has never been a clear and easy process. It is multi-layered, fragmented, and deeply influenced by constitutional federalism.

This article examines the Competition Commission of India's intervention in WhatsApp's 2021 Privacy Policy under the Competition Act, 2002. It argues that data has become both a parameter of market power and a mechanism of exploitative and exclusionary abuse.

On December 24, 2025, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a regulatory advisory (RCD-02004/7/2025) directing food business operators, beverage manufacturers, brand owners, advertisers, and e-commerce platforms to desist from using the term "tea" for beverages that are not derived from the Camellia sinensis plant.

In a significant ruling on comparative advertising and product disparagement, the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court in Emami Limited v. Dabur India Limited dismissed Emami's appeal against Dabur's advertisement for its product "Cool King."

In the age of Instagram Shops and Facebook Marketplace, the line between a promotional post and a point-of-sale has vanished.

In an era defined by rapid digital dissemination of information, advertising profoundly influences consumer decisions.