What are the legal requirement for my entertainment startup

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Dear client,

Kindly refer to your query posted above. There is a gamut of laws applicable on startups depending upon the type or nature of business chosen and according to legal structure, e.g. sole proprietorship, one person company, limited liability partnership, partnership, private limited company, public limited company.

Selection of legal structure-

At the absolute beginning, you may choose any of the following legal entities (depending upon your cost and future mission) to kick off your business, namely:
(i) partnership under the Partnership Act, 1932,
(ii) limited liability partnership under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008,
(iii) sole proprietorship (to be registered under the shops and commercial establishment of relevant state based on the location of the office),
(iv) one person company and private limited company under the Companies Act, 2013.

Further, if you are planning to establish your business with other founders. Then it is better to have in place a Founders’ Agreement stating key clauses such as: capital, ownership, roles and responsibilities, compensation, decision making and settlement of conflicts, voting rights and procedure, IP assignment, Firing, Non-compete, vesting and milestones, exist of founders and lock in period, dissolution, dispute resolution, arbitration etc.

Registration under Income Tax and Goods and Service Tax-

The legal entity which you select for the business must be registered under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Further, if the turnover of your legal entity exceeds the prescribed threshold of INR 20,00,000 then it needs to be registered under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 also.

Intellectual Property Laws-

If your proposed entertainment business involves performance, playing, publishing, broadcasting, displaying or doing any commercial exploitation of copyright works or materials such as music, theatrical play, novels, cinema or movies, videos or any other kind of artistic works etc., then your entity would require procuring respective license from the owner or assigned legal person. Further, if you are planning to run your business on franchise basis then also you would require procuring a trademark license right from the owner or legally assigned person.

If your entertainment business will be related to production or creation of any artistic work then such creative material should be registered under the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 for better protection. Also, if you have planned for any brand name and logo then such trademark or service mark should be registered under the Trademark Act, 1999.

Contract or Agreements-

Your legal entity will also require certain commercial contracts with vendor and customers incorporating following key provisions, among other things: (i) clear scope of work or services, (ii) intellectual property rights, (iii) term and termination, (iv) representations and warranties, (v)indemnification, (vi) limitation of liability, (vii) governing laws, (viii) arbitration and jurisdiction.


Human Resource and Labour Laws-

I assume the scale of your business would require number of employees. If the number of employees exceeds the prescribed limit then you may require registration, inter alia, under the following acts:
(i) Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948,
(ii) Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952,
(iii) Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1961
(iv) Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 (if you deploy more than 20 contract laborers)
Further, you need to comply with the following key labour laws:
(i) Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013,
(ii) The Child Labor Law (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986,
(iii) Equal Remuneration Act, 1976,
(iv) Industrial Disputes Act, 1947,
(v) Maternity Benefit Act, 1961,
(vi) Weekly Holidays Act, 1942,
(vii) Minimum Wages Act, 1948,
(viii) Payment of Bonus Act, 1965,
(ix) Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972,
(x) Payment of Wages Act, 1936,
(xi) Cine Workers and cinema theatre works (Regulations of employment) Act, 198 (if your business is related to cinema theaters or movie production),
(xii) Employment Exchange (Compulsory notification of vacancies) Act, 1959,
(xiii) Employees Compensation Act, 1923.
Please note that above list is not exhaustive. The above list only stipulates about key laws which are generally applicable. Further, you may require the following contracts and documents for human resource, namely:
(i) Employment contract, or consulting contract.
(ii) Human Resource Manual/Handbook and policies.

Hope the above clarifies your query.

Best regards,

Disclaimer: As to matters of law, I limit my response to the laws of India and the laws/rules/regulations of the state under whose jurisdiction the subject matters falls. Further, my response is limited to the facts presented by the client and laws in existence on the date of this response and at no subsequent time. This response is delivered to you in connection with the query raised/posted, and may not be utilised or quoted by you for any other purpose or relied upon by any other person or entity without prior consent. Further, this response does not create any attorney client relationship.
 

Advocate Sangeet Sindan LawRato