Firm Engaged in

Newspaper
Business
Group
8
Section
2

GROUP
MEMBERS:
Rohit Agarwal
Rohit Kumar
Saurabh Raina
Saurav
Narjinary

Business Law
IIM Shillong

Shubhabh

Corporate Structure & State for

Business
The firm will be formed under the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008 and act
as a LLP (Limited Liability Partnership) between the partners
help in providing the flexibility of the partnership
advantage of limited liability of a company at a much lower compliance cost

Business will be started in Uttarakhand keeping the target audience and relevant
competition in mind
1 newspaper in Uttar Pradesh covers about 77,749 people as compared to just
30,472 in Uttarakhand
Preference of Hindi newspaper by people and high literacy rate of 79.63% gives
us more incentive to start here

Governing legislations, risks and

The
Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867
Penalty

Regulates printing presses and newspapers, preservation of copies printed and

registration with the authority
Non-compliance leads to fine upto Rs. 2000 or imprisonment upto 6 months or both

Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act, 1954

Every publisher has to deliver a copy of newspaper/book free of cost to the
National Library in Kolkata and 3 public libraries
Non-compliance leads to a fine upto Rs. 50 and fine upto the value of the book
The Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employee Act,1955
Every publisher needs to maintain and increase the wages as per Wage Board
suggestions
Separate Wage Board and Tribunals set for Journalist and Non-journalist newspaper
employees
Non-compliance may lead to a fine upto Rs. 200 and upon 2 nd conviction may
extend upto Rs. 500
The Newspaper (Prices and Pages) Act, 1956
Empowers Central Government to set minimum wage (Price Page Schedule) for fair

Governing legislations, risks and

Penalty (cont.)
The Copyright Act, 1957
Empowers publisher to have the right on pieces published in the newspaper
Author assigns the right to the publisher against some royalty/license fees
Infringement may lead to fine b/w Rs. 50,000 to 2 lakhs & imprisonment of 6-36
months or both
The Defense of India Act, 1962
Provides special rights like prohibition to publish for public safety, defense of India,
civil defense
Defaulter may be punished with death or life imprisonment or imprisonment upto
10 years and fine
The Civil Defense Act,1968
Enables Central Government to prohibit publishing of newspaper for civil defense
and related matters
Non-compliance may lead to a fine upto Rs. 500 and if it continues then upto Rs.
50,000 daily
The Press Council Act, 1978

Legal Structure of the firm

A legal structure of a firm is the legal definition of the business
the mentioned procedure for the legal formation of an LLP:

Step
Step
Step
Step
Step

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:

Application for DIN or DPIN

Acquire/ Register DSC
New User Registration
Incorporate a LLP
File LLP Agreement

After the LLP has been incorporated, as a Newspaper firm we have to register with the
Registrar of Newspapers of India
Printing and publishing of newspapers and periodicals within India are governed by the
Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 and the Registration of Newspapers (Central)
Rules, 1956
The following details are required to be submitted to the RNI in New Delhi head office

Title Verification;
Title Registration;
Declaration;
Ownership Statement; Ownership Change;
Annual Statement;
Foreign Direct Investment; Import of Printing Machinery; Import of Newsprint; Daily press
newspapers;
Exemption under FCRA; Return for Imported Newsprint; No Foreign Tie-up Affidavit and

Material Contract
Contract with Distribution agencies/agents
The distribution agencies/agents are associated with Newspaper firm in the capacity
of Independent contractors, required to meeting of following two requirements:
The person is free from control and direction in the performance of work and
The person is customarily engaged in an independent trade or business
Contract with other news agencies/freelance
columnists/photographers/journalists
The contract should clearly define
the term,
fee to be paid (acknowledging that not all content attracts a fee to be paid),
allowable expenses,
deadline and
respective rights acquired
The terms are provided in written either by email or letter but the delivery and
commission agreement can be verbal also by the respective editor
Each of the contribution is subject to copyright laws and is under the Moral rights
provision

Regulatory Body
Media and press in India are mostly self-regulated
News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) is a self-regulatory organisation
issuing standards and guidelines
Press Council of India (PCI) is a statutory, quasi-judicial body governing the
conduct of print media
Press Council is a mechanism for the press to regulate itself
Chairman should be (or had been) the Judge of High Court and is nominated by the
CJI
Councils action cannot be questioned unless it is proved to be in violation of
Constitution of India
PCI has the power to warm, admonish or censure a newspaper, newspaper agency,
journalist or an editor

Potential Liability

Accuracy and fairness; Pre-publication verification; Caution against defamatory writings

Parameters of the right of the press to comment on the acts and conduct of public
officials
Criticism of public figures/music reviews; Right to privacy
Recording interviews and phone conversation
Conjecture, comment and fact
Reporting-proceedings of legislature; Caution in criticizing judicial acts
Corrections; Right of reply; Letters to editor; Editors discretion
Obscenity and vulgarity; Glorification/encouragement of social evil or Violence
Covering communal disputes/clashes; Caste, religion or community references
Paramount national interest; Foreign relations
Plagiarism; Unauthorized lifting of news; Illegal reproduction; Non-return of unsolicited
material; Advertisements; Astrological Prediction

Major Caselaws in the Sector

S. Nihal Singh & others V/S Arjan Das, 1983 CriL 777
Awareness of the contents of the newspaper can be raised only against the
editor whose name appears in declaration published in newspaper

Sakal Paper Ltd. V/s Union of India, 1962 AIR 305

Fixing of minimum rate for newspaper was termed unconstitutional and
Governments justification of reasonable restriction was not accepted

S. Ameenul Hasan Rizvi V/s Press Council of India & others,

91 (2001) DLT 492
In order to maintain the freedom of press, no one can direct the editor or owner
of a newspaper to publish any news, article or any correspondence

Few Precautionary Measures

Prior knowledge about the legislations governing our business is a must

However this may not be sufficient hence it is better to insure yourself and take
policies like:
Professional Indemnity Liability Policy
Crime Insurance Liability Policy
Director & Officer Liability Policy

THANK YOU