COPYRIGHT

Table of Contents

 Introduction
 Historical background of copyright
 International conventions and treaties on copyright protection
o Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
o Buenos Aires Convention on Literary and Artistic Copyright
o Universal Copyright Convention in Geneva (1952)
o Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and
Broadcasting Organisations (1961)
o Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) (1994)
o WIPO Copyright Treaty (1996)
o WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, 1996 (WPPT)
o Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, 2011 (ACTA)
o Marrakesh VIP Treaty (2013)
 Copyright protection legislations around the world
o The Copyright Act, 1976
o Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 1998
o EU Copyright Directive
o Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
o Copyright legislation in India
o Countries with no copyright legislation earlier
 Types of work that are subject to copyright
o Literary work
o Dramatic work
o Musical work
o Artistic work
 Architectural work
o Cinematograph films
o Sound recording
o Works that are not subject to copyright
 Rights provided by copyright
o Right of reproduction
o Right of distribution
o Right to public performance
o Right of communication to the public
o Right of adaptation
o Right of sale or rental
o Related/ neighbouring rights
 How long does a copyright last
 Registration for copyright
o Registration for copyright in India
 Register of the Copyrights
 Application for registering copyrights
 Correction of the entries
 Order for rectification of the entries
 Register of Copyrights is the prima facie evidence
 Registration of copyrights is not a statutory requirement
 Advantage of registration of copyrights
 Copyright infringement notification requirements
o Contact information
o Accurate description of the alleged infringed work
o Mention of URL or URLs of allegedly infringing content
o Agreement and affirmation to particular statements
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 o Signature of the complainant
 Can someone use a copyright protected work without infringing owner’s copyright
o Licensing
o Fair use
 Landmark judgements on copyright infringements
o Vanilla Ice v. David Bowie/Freddie Mercury (1991)
o Rogers v. Koons (1992)
o Apple v. Microsoft (1994)
o The Associated Press v. Fairey (2010)
o William Roger Dean v. James Cameron, et al. (2014)
o Marvin Gaye Estate v. Robin Thicke and Pharrell, and T.I. (2018)
o Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. (2021)
o Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P. (2022)
 Conclusion
 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
o What is copyright?
o What are the basic requirements to get copyright?
o What are the basic principles of copyright?
o What exclusive rights does copyright give an individual?
o What can be protected using copyright?
o What is the © symbol?
o If a dramatic work may include music, will the music be entitled to a separate copyright?
o Does a photograph enjoy copyright protection?
o Does a remake of a foreign language film enjoy the same protection as the original
version of the film?
o What is DRM in copyright?
o Which law governs copyright in India?
 References

Introduction

Copyright is one of the categories of legal protections for certain types of intellectual
property. By virtue of copyright, it grants exclusive ownership and control to the creators
of ‘original’ creative work.

Copyright is seen as a vehicle for adding to the wealth of culture and knowledge of the
society by encouraging the creation and dissemination of new creative works. It grants
an exclusive, legally secured right to the owner of any creation while it legally excludes
others from any usage rights.

However, originality is sine qua non of Copyright Law.

Historical background of copyright

The requirement for a law on copyright emerged with the invention of the printing
presses in Europe in the fifteenth century. Prior to that, the requirement for a law
protecting the copying of books or manuscripts did not arise given the tediousness
involved in copying a book by hand. With the invention of printing in Europe, the need for
a law prohibiting unauthorised printing, sale or import of a book arose.

The Stationers’ Royal Charter, 1557, granted the “the exclusive right of printing any book
or anything for sale or traffic” which effectively allowed the original publishers
(commonly known as the Stationer’s Guild) to have exclusive control over works
published by them.

The Licensing of the Press Act, 1662 was the first legislation regarding copyright which
later shaped the future of the Copyright Law in England and America.

The Statute of Anne, passed in 1710, was the very first exhaustive piece of legislation on
copyright in Great Britain.

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The Indian Copyright Act, 1914, based on the Copyright Act, 1911 of Great Britain was
the first modern law on copyright in India.

International conventions and treaties on copyright protection

There is no concept of universal copyright while copyright infringements may take place
everywhere. Though no creative work is protected automatically worldwide and any
particular copyright protection legislation in a nation is ineffective outside the territory,
multilateral treaties have increased the harmonisation for protection of copyright in a
wide range of countries. They provide protections to all the creative works as soon as
they are fixed in any tangible medium.

The international conventions have also helped a lot in shaping the nature and
protections offered to the creative works under the copyright.

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works

This Convention, usually known as the Berne Convention, is an international agreement

adopted in 1886, deals with governing copyright, which was first accepted in Berne,
Switzerland, in 1886.

The Berne Convention formally mandated several aspects which formed the basis of
modern copyright law in most of the countries.

It introduced the concept that a copyright exists the moment a work is ‘fixed’ in any
tangible medium rather than requiring registration. The Convention also enforced a
requirement that countries recognise copyrights held by the citizens of all other signatory
countries.

 The Berne Convention requires its signatories to treat the copyright of works of
authors from other signatory countries at least as well as those of its own
nationals.
 In addition to establishing a system of equal treatment that internationalised
copyright amongst the signatories, it also required the member states to provide
strong minimum standards for copyright under the copyright law.
 Copyright under the Berne Convention must be automated; it is prohibited to
require any formal registration.

Buenos Aires Convention on Literary and Artistic Copyright

The Buenos Aires Convention, also known as the Third Pan-American Convention is a
copyright treaty signed at Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 11th August, 1910 by most of the
North and South American countries. It provided mutual recognition for copyrights where
the work has a notice containing a statement of reservation of copyrights. It is commonly
done with the phrase, “All Rights Reserved” next to the copyright notice.

 The implementation of this Convention varied as US law only required the author
and the year of publishing.
 Copyright protection under this Convention is granted for the shorter of the terms
of the protecting country and the source country of the work.
 The opaque nature of the requirement for a statement of reservation led to the
development of the long and more legalistic wordings which have persisted despite
the developments in the copyright scenario internationally.
 The Convention is specifically retained by the Universal Copyright Convention of
1952.

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  As this Convention was not modified, the presence of a simple copyright notice was
sufficient to ensure mutual recognition of copyright between countries which
became parties to the Universal Copyright Convention.
 All parties to the Buenos Aires Convention are also parties to the Berne
Convention, which provides mutual recognition of copyright without any
formalities.
The Buenos Aires Convention became a special agreement in terms of Article 20 of the
Berne Convention. This Convention remains in force notably for determining the ‘rule of
the shorter term’ (Article 7) which dictates the length of the copyright term in any
country was whichever was shorter – either in the source country, or the protecting
country of the work.

Universal Copyright Convention in Geneva (1952)

The Universal Copyright Convention (UCC), adopted in Geneva, Switzerland in 1952 is

one of the principal international conventions protecting copyrights. The UCC was
developed by the United Nations’ Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) as an alternative to the Berne Convention for those nations which disagreed
with the provisions of the Berne Convention but desired to participate in some forms of
multilateral copyright protection. The nations included most of the developing countries,
the United States of America and some Latin American countries. The developing
countries were of the opinion that the strict copyright provisions in the Berne Convention
would only benefit the Western Nation while the latter two were the parties to the
Buenos Aires Convention.

The Berne Convention nations also became a party to the UCC so that their copyright
protection would exist in non-Berne Convention nations, too.

Since most of the countries are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and
they necessarily comply with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), the UCC has lost its significance.

Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms

and Broadcasting Organisations (1961)

The Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and
Broadcasting Organisations, 1961, was the first international treaty to deal with
neighbouring/ related rights in copyrights.

That there was a firm conception of hierarchy between copyright and neighbouring
rights, with primordial status conferred on the former, is evident from the very first
Article of this Convention, which makes clear that the protection granted by it shall not in
any way affect the copyright protection in literary and artistic works, and that its
provisions shall not prejudice such protection.

This Convention went on to define performers in Article 3(a) as “actors, singers,

musicians, dancers and other persons who act, sing, deliver, declaim, play in, or
otherwise perform literary or artistic works”.

The minimum term of protection for both performer’s rights and broadcast rights was
twenty years computed from the end of the year in which the performance or broadcast
took place.

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

(1994)

Unlike the Berne Convention did not stipulate any elaborate remedies for copyright
infringement, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights,
1994 (TRIPS), on the other hand, has laid out a much more elaborate scheme of

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remedies, both civil and criminal, in Part III for enforcement of intellectual property
rights.

It is an international legal agreement between all the nations who are members of the
World Trade Organisation (WTO).The three basic features of TRIPS include: standards,
enforcement and dispute settlement. However, the Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) did not add anything new to the scope of
protection offered by performer’s rights or broadcast reproduction rights in the Rome
Convention.

WIPO Copyright Treaty (1996)

WIPO Copyright Treaty is an international treaty on copyright law adopted by the

member states of WIPO in 1996.

 It provides additional protections for copyright deemed necessary due to the

advancement in information technology since the formation of previous treaties on
copyright.
 This treaty ensures that computer programs are protected as literary works and
the arrangement and selection of material in databases is protected
 It provides the creators control and distribution of their works which was previously
not there in Berne Convention.

WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, 1996 (WPPT)

The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, 1996 (WPPT), has taken long steps to
enhance the rights of the performer.

 It has extended the duration of protection for a minimum period of fifty years.
 It provided for separate moral rights to attribution (i.e., the right to be credited for
the performance) and integrity (i.e., the right to prevent mutilation, distortion or
other modification of the performance that would prejudicially affect the
performer’s reputation) to the performer.
The Treaty has also enhanced the economic rights conferred on performers to include:

1. the exclusive right of distribution to the public of the original and copies of their
performances fixed in phonograms through sale or any other transfer of ownership
or through commercial rental and
2. the right to a single equitable remuneration (along with the producer of the
phonogram) for the direct or indirect use of phonograms of their performances
published for commercial purposes for broadcasting or for any communication to
the public.
The Treaty has also added self-help measures such as technological protection measures
and electronic rights management information that performers may employ to prevent
infringement of their rights, by mandating member countries to provide adequate legal
protection and effective legal remedies against their circumvention.

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, 2011 (ACTA)

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is an agreement which is creating new

Intellectual Property enforcement standards that leads to secret negotiations shifting the
focus from the international forums such as World Trade Organisation (WTO) and World
Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Through this Agreement, the countries aim to increase the authority of the law
enforcement agencies to prohibit infringing activities such as hacking and piracy in
information industries. It was negotiated from 2007 to 2010 by many developing
countries but so far has only been ratified by Japan.

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Marrakesh VIP Treaty (2013)

The Marrakesh VIP Treaty is a treaty on copyright adopted in 2013 at Marrakesh in

Morocco.

It is an international legal treaty which targets to achieve for blind, visually impaired and
print disabled people to access copyright-protected works.

The purpose of this treaty is purely humanitarian. The main goal of this treaty is to create
mandatory limitations and exceptions to benefit the blind, visually impaired, and
otherwise print disabled (VIPs).

India has become the first nation to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to
published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled.

Copyright protection legislations around the world

Most of the nations have their own copyright act nationally. But they are territorial and
do not apply beyond the national jurisdictions. Some of the noteworthy copyright
legislations around the world are:

The Copyright Act, 1976

It is the principal copyright law in the United States now. The Copyright Act, 1976 forms
the basis of copyright law in the US and covers all the governing factors under the
copyright.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 1998

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 1998 is a federal law in the United States
for the protection of copyright holders from online theft, and from the illegal usage of
copyright-protected materials, reproduction or distribution of the creative works.

EU Copyright Directive

The copyright law in Europe is not harmonised at the community level and the member
states take different approaches. The Information Society Directive, 2001 was formulated
as an attempt to harmonise the copyright law within the European Union island to enact
the implementations of the WIPO Copyright Treaty.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA), 1988 is the principal legislation governing
intellectual property rights including copyrights in the United Kingdom. This law has
originated from the concept of English common law and it has influences of the historic
Statute of Anne.

This law covers a wide range of intellectual properties including copyright.

Copyright legislation in India

In India, copyrights are protected by the Indian Copyright Act, 1957. To ensure the
protection of copyright, India has entered into various treaties to secure global copyright
protections.

It regulates and governs the protections of creative works within India.

Countries with no copyright legislation earlier

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According to the US Copyright Office, three countries, Eritrea, Turkmenistan and San
Marino had no copyright protection earlier for creators within their own borders or for
foreign creative works.

Turkmenistan has been a member of the Berne Convention since 2016 and Law No. 257-
IV of January 10, 2012, on Copyright and Related Rights is the only law in Turkmenistan.

San Marino is a member of the Berne Convention and WIPO Copyright Treaty 2020
and Law No. 8 of 25 January 1991 – Protection of Copyright is the main enacted
legislation.

Eritrea still does not have any legislation regarding copyright and has not acceded to the
Berne Convention as yet.

Types of work that are subject to copyright

Not every work enjoys copyright protection. A work has to be original in order to enjoy
copyright protection.

Copyright law requires that the ‘expression’ of the idea in the work must originate from
the author and should not be copied from anywhere else. Another significant fact is that
the copyright protection does not depend upon the quality or style, but on the originality
of the produced work or the creation in question.

Copyright law recognises several categories of work that receive protection. These
categories include the works as enumerated below

Literary work

Literary works are not limited to works of literature alone, but include all works
expressed in printed or writing forms (except dramatic or musical works). Computer
programmes, tables and compilations including computer databases falls within the
ambit of literary work.

The copyright protection is not limited to words, but also includes symbols and numerals.

Literary work should have the following characteristics:

 It must be original and be fixed in some tangible form.

 The word literature has to be understood in the same manner as it is understood in
political and electioneering sense.
 It refers to written or printed matter.
 No merit other than originality is required.
In Walter v. Lane (1900), a book which was published based on articles in ‘The Times’
which were verbatim of the speech made by Lord Roseberry – was held to be original
since own skill and labour was exercised.

Dramatic work

The essence of a dramatic work is a story or a narrative. A written description of the acts
of the performer acts as a prerequisite for copyright protection. Any work of action, with
or without music, capable of being performed before an audience is termed as a
dramatic work.

Copyright subsists not only in the actual words of the work but in the dramatic incidents
of the work as well.

In Tate v. Fullbrook (1908), it was held that any dramatic work in its entirety along with
the scenic effects comes under copyright.
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Musical work

Musical work does not include words intended to be sung or spoken with the music or
action intended to be performed with the music or song lyrics. It refers to a work which
consists of music and includes any graphic notation of such work.

The creator of any musical work is known as a composer. The rights of the composer are
protected under copyright irrespective of whether the recordings of the music are
available in graphical notations or not.

Artistic work

An artistic work should have an original content to be protectable under the copyright.
Therefore anybody who can create an original artwork can be entitled to copyright
protection. Copyright law while attributing authorship to a painter does not subjectively
assess how good or poor an artwork is.

The assessment of the artistic merit and quality is done by art connoisseurs and dealers.
It is understood outside the domain of copyright.

Original work involving the art of carving, modelling, welding or other works of art in
three dimensions are also protected by copyright.

Architectural work

Architectural works are protected as artistic work if they are the original creation of the
creator, i.e., the architect. Architectural drawings, diagrams, charts, maps, plans and
even circuit diagrams are all protected as artistic works.

However, the building built with the architectural plan does not amount to copyright
under architectural works. It may have a separate protection under the intellectual
property.

Cinematograph films

The ambit of cinematographic films will cover, but not limited to, feature films,
documentaries, and even animated movies.

If the original version of any film is in the public domain, anyone can remake it. However,
whether the remake will enjoy copyright or not, depends on the availability of sufficient
new expression.

Sound recording

Sound recording is a recording of sounds from which such sounds may be heard later.
The medium or the method by which the sounds have been created does not matter. The
only condition is that the sound recording should be original.

If an originally composed audio recording is fixed on a medium such as CD-ROM or

pendrive, it qualifies for protection under copyright .

Apart from the abovementioned, some more works that are subject to
copyright are:

 Audiovisual works, such as television shows, soap operas, movies, and online
videos
 Originally created videos available on YouTube

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  Video games
 Computer software

Works that are not subject to copyright

Particular aspects of works do not constitute the subject matter under copyright.

 Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries,

or devices are not subject matters under copyright.
 Titles, names, short phrases, slogans, typefaces, fonts and lettering and mere
listings of ingredients or contents cannot be copyrighted.
 Works not fixed in a tangible form of expression cannot be copyrighted.
 Commonly available works which contain no originality (for example, calendars,
standard measurements, lists or tables compiled from public documents) are not
copyrightable subject matter.
However, some titles and words might be protected under trademark law if their use is
associated with a particular product or service.

Rights provided by copyright

One of the most fundamental rights granted to the owner by virtue of copyright is the
right to reproduce a work. It also grants the rights to distribute and perform literary,
musical, dramatic, artistic work.

Copyright protection also extends to works that are commissioned by businesses and
other organisations where the creator was hired to create the work. It also includes
creative works created during the normal course of employment.

Though the rights provided by the copyright vary depending upon the types of creative
works, the rights conferred in any copyrighted work can be broadly classified under the
following headings:

Right of reproduction

The right of reproduction of any creative work implies the right granted to the original
owner or an authorised person to make copies of the said work. It is one of the main
priorities of copyright law. The owner of copyright in an artistic, literary, musical or
dramatic work has the exclusive right to reproduce the work in any material form as per
wish.

In order to prove that an individual has infringed this exclusive right of the owner of
copyright, it must be shown that:

 The alleged infringer has copied the copyright owner’s work rather than making an
independent creation.
 That the unauthorised copying of the work should amount to improper
appropriation.

Right of distribution

This right of distribution of any copyrighted work embodies the exclusive right of a
copyright owner to distribute the copies of the creative work. This right also ensures that
the copyright owner may transfer, nominate or entitle another individual whole or part of
the rights.

Right to public performance

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Copyright also grants the owner the exclusive right of public performance. The copyright
owner has the exclusive right to publicly perform the work. Due to this right, the creator,
apart from making copies and distributing them, can perform his work publicly, too.

For instance, in the case of a literary work, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to
recite or read the work in public. Similarly for a musical work, the copyright owner has
the exclusive right to perform the said work before the public. Another common example
of the right to public performance under the copyright is the right of a singer of any
particular song (musical work) to perform that song live in front of audiences.

Right of communication to the public

The copyright owner also has the exclusive right to communicate the copyrighted work
to the public. It implies making any work available for being seen or heard or otherwise
enjoyed by the public directly or by any other ways than by issuing copies or distribution.
It does not matter whether any member of the public really sees, hears or otherwise
enjoys the work so made available.

In other words, the right to communicate grants the owner to broadcast or make the
copyrighted work accessible to the public through the internet.

The exclusive right to communicate the work allows the owner to control the wide
dissemination of the work and it is this right that confers significant economic benefits on
the copyright owner. Because of this right, the owner is empowered to decide the terms
and conditions of the copyrighted work.

For example, the owner of a copyright in a film is able to charge royalty fees from movie
theatres or sell rights in the film to such theatres since it has the exclusive right to
communicate the work to the public. It also includes the promotion of a newly published
literary work by the author.

Right of adaptation

The copyright grants the owner an exclusive right of modification or adaptation of the
copyrighted work.

In other words, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to prepare ‘derivative works’
of its own work. For instance, the copyright owner of a book (literary work) has the
exclusive right to give permission to adapt the same into a film. In case of any literary
work, the owner also has the right to translate or authorise another individual to translate
the work into another language.

This right is interconnected with the right to integrity which protects the original
copyrighted work of the owner to distort, mutilate or alter in a way harmful or prejudicial
to the owner’s honour or reputation.

Right of sale or rental

Some of the copyrighted works such as computer programmes, films and sound
recordings can be sold in the market. Through this, the works can be easily disseminated
very widely simply by sale or rental in a market. Hence, the copyright offers the exclusive
right to sell or give a commercial rental or offer for sale of the original or the copy of a
computer programme, film or sound recording.

Related/ neighbouring rights

Related or neighbouring rights are a separate set of rights resembling copyright. These
are given to certain individuals or organisations to help make the works available to the
public. These rights are usually given to performers, producers and broadcasting
organisations etc.
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How long does a copyright last

Copyright is not a perpetual right. It exists for a specific term. After the expiry of the
term, the ‘work’ falls in the public domain and is then open for the public to use without
permission of the owner. In other words, copyright is a term based right and not a
perpetual right.

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works specifies the
duration of copyright as the lifetime of the creator and after 50 years of death. However,
it varies from country to country.

Many countries in the European Union and the United States have extended the duration
of copyright to 70 years after the author’s death.

In India, copyright lasts after 60 years of the author’s death.

Registration for copyright

The Berne Convention provides that no formal registration is required for any creative
work and the protection under copyright is granted as soon as it is fixed in any tangible
medium.

At first, it introduced the principle that the creators only need to comply with the
formalities according to the country of origin of the creative work.

This was replaced in the 1908 Berlin Convention by the current principle of formality-free
protection which was fully reflected in Article 5(2) of Paris Act, 1971 which clearly
states that the enjoyment and the exercise of copyright ‘shall not be subject to any
formality’.

In most of the signatory countries, registration under copyright is optional. However,

certificate of registration of copyright and the entries made therein serve as prima
facie evidence in a court of law in case of any dispute arises with regard to the ownership
of copyright.

The registration of copyright differs according to the national legislation of any particular
nation. Stages of registration copyright include:

1. Filling an application for registration with requisite fees

2. Scrutinisation
3. Registration rejected or approved

Registration for copyright in India

Chapter X consisting of Section 44 to Section 50A of the Copyright Act, 1957 thoroughly
deals with the registration process of copyright in India.

Register of the Copyrights

Section 44 states that a Register of the Copyrights at the Copyright Office to be kept to
enter the details of the author and the work to be copyrighted.

Application for registering copyrights

Section 45(1) lays down that an interested author, publisher or owner may apply for
copyright registration in the form with the requisite fees to the Registrar of Copyrights. It
further states that before applying for copyright any artistic works used in any goods or
services, a certificate from the Registrar of TradeMarks as mentioned in Section 3 of the
Trade Marks Act, 1999, stating that no trade mark is identical or deceptively similar to

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the artistic work has been registered under that Act in the name of, or no other person
except the applicant has applied for the registration.

Under Section 45(2) , the Registrar of Copyrights after inquiry will enter the details of the
work in the Register of Copyrights.

Correction of the entries

Section 49 states that the owner of the copyright can correct, amend or alter the wrong
entries of the details made in the Register of Copyright due to slip or omission

Order for rectification of the entries

Under Section 50, an aggrieved owner of the copyright or even the Registrar of
Copyrights may approach the Copyboard Board to get an order to make, expunge or
correct any error wrongly made or defects of the entries in the register.

Register of Copyrights is the prima facie evidence

According to Section 48, the details of the work mentioned in the Register of Copyrights
is the prima facie evidence in the court of law in case any dispute arises. A certified copy
of the details signed by the Registrar of Copyrights and sealed with the seal of the
Copyright Office is admissible as evidence in all courts without any further proof or
production of the original work.

Registration of copyrights is not a statutory requirement

However, no provisions under the Copyright Act, 1957 makes the registration of the
copyright mandatory. This is indicative from the usage of the word ‘may’ in every section
in the concerned Chapter.

Further, the phrase used in Section 45 “the owner of or other person interested in the
copyright” indicates that the registration of copyright is optional in India.

Advantage of registration of copyrights

It is suggested to register any creative work under copyright since the particulars
mentioned therein will serve as the prima facie evidence in case of any dispute and
proving the rights or the ownership of the copyright will be easier since no further proof
is required.

Copyright infringement notification requirements

If an individual believes that the copyright of his or her copyrighted works has been
violated i.e., the infringement of copyright has taken place on the internet, it should be
notified in the following ways consisting of the following elements without which no
proper action can be taken.

Contact information

Contact information, such as an email address, physical address or contact number of

the copyright owner should be provided to the appropriate authority along with the
complaint to communicate during the resolving of the complaint.

Accurate description of the alleged infringed work

In the copyright infringement complaint, all the proper details regarding the work should
be clearly and completely described to protect it. If the complaint is regarding multiple
copyrighted works, a representative list of the works should be provided, as laid down by
the law.

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Mention of URL or URLs of allegedly infringing content

To help the appropriate authorities locate and identify the copyrighted work on the
internet, the copyright infringement complaint must contain the specific URLs of the
allegedly infringed work.

Since a vast number of creative works and contents are available, locating any particular
content is almost impossible. So mere general information about the location of the
content is not adequate and the URL or all the URLs in case of multiple infringed
contents should be provided with the complaint.

Agreement and affirmation to particular statements

In the complaint, the individual should agree and affirm statements regarding the
copyright. The statements to affirm are about the truthfulness of the complaint and
regarding the confirmation of the ownership of the infringed content.

Signature of the complainant

A whole complaint regarding copyright infringement requires the physical or electronic

signature of the copyright owner or the physical or electronic signature of any authorised
representative acting on behalf.

To fulfil this formality, the full legal name at the bottom of your complaint should be
given which will act as the authorised signature.

An individual can file a copyright infringement complaint of contents available on the

internet using the legal troubleshooter of Google.

Can someone use a copyright protected work without infringing owner’s copyright

There are few ways through which any copyright-protected work can be used without
infringing the owner’s right.

Licensing

A copyright-protected work can be legally used with a license. A license is a permission

obtained to use copyrighted work. It provides curious conditions of non-commercial
usages or commercial usages on condition.

Creative Commons license is among one of several public copyright licenses which
enable an individual the free distribution of a work protected by copyright. This licence
provides public permission to use creative work protected by copyright.

An individual may approach the owner of the copyrighted-protected work to request a

right to use whole or specific portions of the content. The owner can provide a license
with terms and conditions.

Fair use

The doctrine of fair is another method which allows an individual to use the copyright-
protected work without infringing the owner’s right. Fair use of copyright-protected works
are the exceptions which allows restricted use of the content of the creator without any
permission.

The justification of ‘fair use’ allows the right to use a small portion of content without any
penalty. It helps to use a very limited portion of the copyright-protected work with few
restrictions. The actual market value of the original work should not be affected by fair
use of the protected content. Examples of fair use is quoting from a book protected
under copyright while copying an entire chapter of a book will amount to infringement of

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copyright. The creation of the parody of an original work also amounts to the fair use of
the content.

The fair use of the copyright-protected work should be noncommercial, educational,

scientific, or charitable.

The fair use case of Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studio (1984), also known as
the ‘Betamax Case’ is a ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States which ruled
that the making of complete copies of individual television shows for the purposes of
time shifting does not constitute copyright infringement but it is a fair use.

Landmark judgements on copyright infringements

There have been some major controversies related to the rights granted by copyright
and the infringement of it. However, due to limited scope in this article, some of the
landmark copyright infringements controversies and cases in the past and recent times
in every field are given below in short:

Vanilla Ice v. David Bowie/Freddie Mercury (1991)

One of the most famous cases of copyright infringement is the above mentioned case.

In 1991, Vanilla Ice released a song “Ice Ice Baby” which was sampled from a song called
“Under Pressure” by David Bowie and Queen. Though initially denying the fact, he
confessed it later after a suit was filed.

This followed an out-of-the-court settlement where Vanilla Ice paid an undeclared amount
of sum.

Rogers v. Koons (1992)

Here, the photographer, Art Rogers, shot a famous photograph titled “Puppies”. Jeff
Koons created a sculpture titled “Strings of Puppies” which he sold for huge profits.

Subsequently, Rogers filed a suit against Koons for infringing upon his copyright. Koons
took the defence of fair use as the parody of the original work.

On appeal, the Supreme Court held that the defendant Koons was not entitled to the
defence. He was directed to pay a monetary settlement to Rogers.

Apple v. Microsoft (1994)

During the release of Windows 1.0, the two companies eventually reached a settlement
where Apple licensed Macintosh design elements to Microsoft for using in Windows.

However, the licence for the use of Apple features in Windows 1.0 and all future Microsoft
software programs was mentioned in that agreement.

In 1988, Apple sued Microsoft for allegedly copying different features of the Macintosh
operating system to create Windows 2.0. without any licence.

It was ruled that most of the alleged copyright infringements were, in fact, covered by
the existing licence, and the rest were not eligible for copyright.

After several appeals, the legal fight regarding this case officially ended in 1994, when
Apple’s petition was denied by the Supreme Court.

The Associated Press v. Fairey (2010)

This case offers an interesting study on fair use and fair dealing of copyright.

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Fairey, a famous street artist, created a poster with Obama’s portrait named Hope poster
during the presidential election of 2008. The poster soon became associated with
Obama’s presidential campaign.

Later in 2009, the Associated Press demanded that the poster was based on one of the
portraits, shot by a freelancer. They claimed compensation for the unauthorised use.

In 2011, both the parties arrived at a mutual private settlement.

William Roger Dean v. James Cameron, et al. (2014)

Artist William Roger Dean filed a copyright infringement suit against acclaimed film
director James Cameron alleging that the latter’s film, Avatar has copied certain
elements from his artwork.

A district court held the claims of the artists as ‘misguided’ and dismissed the suit.

Marvin Gaye Estate v. Robin Thicke and Pharrell, and T.I. (2018)

In 2013, the estate of Marvin Gaye sued singer Robin Thicke and Pharell Williams along
with the featured rapper T.I. for the song “Blurred Lines” alleging copyright infringement
of Gaye’s 1977 song “Got to Give it Up.”

The defendants were initially ordered to pay approximately $7 million dollars by a district
judge.

Later, on appeal the compensation amount was reduced but the ruling of copyright
infringement was upheld.

Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. (2021)

This is an important case regarding the copyrightable nature of computer codes spanning
over more than a decade.

Oracle owned the copyright of Java SE, a programming language. In 2005, after acquiring
Android, Google built a new software platform to use in mobiles. To achieve this in the
new Android platform, Google roughly copied approximately 11,500 lines of code from
the Java SE program. In 2010, Oracle filed a suit against Google for copyright and patent
infringement.

After more than a decade, the US Supreme Court in 2021 ruled in a 6-2 majority that the
usage was within the boundary of fair use.

Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P. (2022)

In this case, Unicolors, the owner of copyrights in various fabric designs, filed a suit
against H&M Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), a reputed clothing retailer and designer on the
ground of copyright infringement. The US Supreme Court held that the provision of safe-
harbouring protects a misrepresented or inaccurate information due to the lack of legal
knowledge on behalf of the applicant and remanded the case.

Conclusion

The US Supreme Court has recognized copyright as an “engine of free

expression”. Copyright acts as a shield to the creator by granting certain rights and
freedoms including commercialization. Copyright protects the expressive content of the
work, not the underlying thoughts and ideas. There are still many gaps in the case laws
which make the interpretation of copyright law fairly complicated.

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Page 16 of 28
 [Law Notes] Indian Copyrights Act, 1957 with Case Laws| IPR by Anubha
Mathur

INTRODUCTION

Copyright is a bundle of exclusive rights given by the law to the creators of

original works. It is a form of intellectual property protection granted by law. The
rights provided under Copyright law include the rights of reproduction of the
work, communication of the work to the public, adaptation of the work and
translation of the work.
Copyright laws serve to create property rights for certain kinds of intellectual
property, generally called works of authorship. Copyright laws protect the legal
rights of the creator of an ‘original work’ by preventing others from reproducing
the work in any other way.

The main goals of copyright are: -

 To encourage the development of culture, science and innovation
 To provide a financial benefit to copyright holders for their works
 To facilitate access to knowledge and entertainment for the public.
Copyright provides a framework for relationships between the different players in
the content industries, as well as for relationships between rights holders and the
consumers of content. Copyright is a form of Intellectual Property, along with
trademarks and patents in all countries, and other creations (such as trade
secrets, database rights, rights of publicity and the like) that may vary from
country to country.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO RELATED INTERNATIONAL TREATIES AND

CONVENTIONS

Indian copyright law is at parity with the international standards as contained in

TRIPS. The (Indian) Copyright Act, 1957, pursuant to the amendments in 1999,
2002, and 2012, fully reflects the Berne Convention for Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works, 1886, and the Universal Copyrights Convention, to which India is a
party. India is also a party to the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Rights
of Producers of Phonograms and is an active member of the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

International copyright treaties

Several international treaties encourage reasonably coherent protection of

copyright from country to country. They set minimum standards of protection
which each signatory country then implements within the bounds of its own
copyright law.

1. Berne Convention, 1886

Berne convention was the first and oldest multilateral convention on copyright
that was for the protection of literary and artistic work which was adopted in
1886.

Initially, 10 nations were part of this convention and today 152 nations out of 190
are part of it. This convention made a union for the protection of the rights of the
authors in their literary and artistic work.
The Berne Convention provides that, at a minimum, copyright protection in all
signatory countries should extend to “literary and artistic works”, including

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 “every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be
the mode or form of its expression.”

The Berne Convention contributed some major concerns to the copyright laws: -
1. The work originating in one signatory nation of the Berne Convention to be
protected in the same manner in other nations too.
2. The automatic protection was granted to the author’s work and was not
subjected to any registration deposition fees or any formal notice in
connection with the publication. This means that the copyright exists as
soon as the work is “FIXED” i.e. recorded in any form.
3. If any dispute arises in the nation of origin, then the dispute can be filed in
either of both nations.
4. It described the types of works protected, duration of protection, scope of
exceptions and Limitations of copyright.
5. Principles such as “national treatment” (works originating in one
signatory country are given the same protection in the other signatory
countries as each grants to works of its own nationals)
6. Principles such as “automatic protection” (copyright inheres
automatically in a qualifying work upon its fixation in a tangible medium
and without any required prior formality).

2. WIPO Copyright Treaty

The WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) is a special agreement under the Berne
Convention that deals with the protection of works and the rights of their authors
in the digital environment. In addition to the rights recognized by the Berne
Convention, they are granted certain economic rights. The Treaty also deals with
two subject matters to be protected by copyright:
i. Computer programs, whatever the mode or form of their expression; and
ii. Compilations of data or other material ("databases").
The treaty was signed in 1996 and also recognizes that the transmission of works
over the Internet and similar networks is an exclusive right within the scope of
copyright, originally held by the creator.
It categorizes as copyright infringement both: -
 The circumvention of technological protection measures attached to works
 The removal from a work of embedded rights management information.

3. The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights (TRIPS)

The Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) is

comprehensive in giving cover to all areas of technology, property, patents,
trademarks, copyrights and so on.
The TRIPs encourages upon the member country’s sovereign right to frame its
own legislation on intellectual property matters. This clause has been included on
account of persistent demand from developed and industrialized countries.
The TRIPs Agreement covers seven categories of intellectual property rights:
 Copyright
 Trademarks
 Geographical Indications
 Industrial Designs
 Patents
 Integrated Circuits
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 Trade Secrets

It was signed in 1996 and administered by the world trade organization. This
agreement includes a number of provisions related to the enforcement of
Intellectual Property rights. It says that national laws have to make the
effective enforcement of Intellectual Property rights possible, and
describes in detail how enforcement should be addressed.

INDIAN COPYRIGHTS ACT, 1957

Copyright law protects expressions of ideas rather than the ideas themselves. It
protects original works of ownership. It gives an exclusive right to do or authorize
others to do certain acts in relation to literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic
works, cinematography, and sound recordings. Computer programs are also
included in literary works. Authors of Computer programs, and broadcasting
organizations are to be given the right to authorize or prohibit the commercial
rental of their works to the public. These similar exclusive rights also apply to the
films.

The Copyright Act, 1957, along with the Copyright Rules, 1958, is the governing
law for copyright protection in India. After independence, the Indian Copyright Act
was the first law which was enacted from the provisions of the Berne Convention.

Objectives:

The Indian Copyright Act, 1957 is enacted with the following two main objectives:

1. Encouragement to the Original Work:

The main objective of the Copyright Act is to encourage authors, composers,

artists, and designers to create original works by rewarding them with the
exclusive right for a limited period (usually for the life of the originator plus 50
years) to exploit the work for monetary gain.
The economic exploitation is done by licensing such exclusive rights to the
entrepreneurs like publishers, film producers and record manufacturers for
monetary consideration. In reality, people who economically exploit the copyright
are the greater beneficiaries of the copyright law than the creators of works of
copyright. The publishers and authors of books are such examples.

2. Protection to the Originator:

The objective of copyright law is also, in essence, to protect the author or the
creator of the original work from the unauthorized reproduction or exploitation of
his/her materials. The right also extends to prevent others from exercising
without authority any other form of right attached to copyright, for example, in
the case of literary work, the right of translation, adaptation or abridgment.
In recent times, with the rapid advance of technology, copyright infringement in
the form of ‘piracy’ has become a serious problem of an international character.
This is because technological progress has made the reproduction of copyrighted
material easy and cheap.

Accordingly, Indian copyright owners can protect their copyright in almost any
country in the world. The appropriate actions taken under the Copyright Act 1957
can stop the infringement of copyright. Infringement of copyright is also an
offense punishable with imprisonment and fine.

DEVELOPMENT OF COPYRIGHT LAWS IN INDIA

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The Indian Copyright law was developed in 3 phases:

1. Early Phase: - In 1911, the earliest statutory law on copyright was made
under the administration of British rule. The provisions of the Berne
convention were followed. During that phase, the term of copyright was for
the lifetime of the author plus 7 years after his death and the government
could grant a compulsory license to publish a book. The registration was
also made necessary in 1914.
2. Modern Phase: - Copyright Act of 1911 was again amended in 1914 and it
was also called modern copyright legislation. For the very first time criminal
sanction was introduced in act for infringement of copyright. The term of
the copyright was fixed for 10 years from the date of its first publication.
This act remained applicable until replaced by Copyright Act, 1957.
3. 1957 Phase: - The Act was enacted after the independence of the nation
from British rule. It was the first enactment of intellectual property laws. It
came into force on 21st January 1958. Major provisions of act were adopted
by the Berne convention of protection of literary and artistic work, 1886.
This act is amended 6 times till now to align with rapid changes in society
and provisions of international treaties i.e. Berne Convention, UCC, TRIPs
Agreement.

SUBJECT MATTER OF COPYRIGHT, ECONOMICS AND MORAL RIGHTS

Modern copyright laws serve to protect a variety of intellectual property ranging

from songs and jingles to computer software and proprietary databases. All
subject matters protected by copyright are called ‘works’. Thus according
to Section 13 of The Copyright Act 1957, it may be subjected to the following
works:
Clause (a) of this Section 13 provides the definition of original work whereas
clause (b) and (c) provides secondary works.
1. Primary Works
a. Original Literary Work,
b. Original Dramatic work,
c. Original Musical work,
d. Original Artistic Work,
Secondary Works
a. Cinematography films, and
b. Sound recordings.

Original Literary Works:

Section 2(o) of the Copyright Act, 1957 provides an inclusive definition of word
literary works according to which the literary work includes computer
programming, tablets, and compilations including computer database. These
cover published works including books, articles, journals, and periodicals, as well
as manuscripts. Even adaptations, translations, and abridgements are taken as
original works and are protected under copyright law. Section 13(a) classify
literary works in the primary work.

Case: Zee Telefilms v. Sundial Communications

Facts: A had prepared concept notes for the purpose of television film which
consists of characters, plots, notes and sketches etc.
Issues: Whether A is entitled to the copyright of those concept notes?
Held: Yes, since A invests labour and skill in preparing the concept paper. Such a
person is entitled to copyright.
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Case: Macmillan & Co. v. K.J Cooper
Facts: Plaintiff’s book consisted of selected passages from Plutarch’s life of
Alexander the Great, joined together by a few words to give a different
appearance. The book also contained an introduction and notes useful for
education. A similar book was published by the defendants with notes. The
original work contained 40,000 words while the defendants had copied 20,000
words and 7000 words in notes.
Issue: Whether the defendants work infringed the copyright in the plaintiff’s
works?
Held: Defendants work infringed the copyright

Original Dramatic Works:

According to section 2(h) of the Copyright Act, 1957, the dramatic work includes
any piece for recitation, choreographic work or entertainment in dumb shows, the
scenic arrangement or acting form which is fixed in writing or otherwise but does
not include a cinematographic film. Since the definition is an inclusive one, the
other things fall within the general meaning of dramatic work, and may also be
covered by the definition.
Case: Academy of General Education Manipal v. Malini Mallya
The court shows a clear difference between literary and dramatic work. The
difference between the two rests on the fact that literary work allows itself to be
read while a dramatic work “forms the text upon which the performance of the
plays rests.” A dance performance will not be covered under copyright work but
under dramatic work.
Case: Creation Records v. New Group Newspaper
Held: It was held that a photograph that involves no movement or action cannot
be treated as dramatic work. Copyright of Dramatic work can in form of:
Adaption of Dramatic work:- Adaptation work means the modification of that work
in some other form.
Original Musical Works:
According to section 2(p) of the Copyright Act, 1957, musical work means any
work consisting of music and includes any graphical notion of such work, but does
not include any words or any action intended to be sung, spoken or performed
with the music. The words in a song and the music have separate rights and the
rights cannot be merged. In order to qualify for copyright protection, a musical
work must be original.
Example:- Famous song “Yaaram” which is written by Gulzar and composed by
Vishal Bharadwaj. The copyright of the lyrics will belong to Gulzar and the musical
composition will be of the composer Vishal Bharadwaj.

Original Artistic Works:

According to the section 2(c) of the Copyright Act, 1957, the artistic work includes
any painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving photograph of any work possessing
artistic qualities. However, it also includes the architecture and artistic
craftsmanship of such works.
Case: Associated publishers vs Bashyam
Facts: A portrait of Mahatma Gandhi was made based on two photographs.
Held: A portrait based on photographs will be entitled to copyright if it produced
a result from the photograph and the portrait itself is original.
Example: A photographer took a photograph of a painting of MF Hussain, then
paints the same himself and sells such copies painted by him.

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 Held: A copyright in a painting is infringed when a person copies from the
original painting or a picture of painting.
Cinematographic Films
Section 2(f) of the Copyright Act, 1957 defines cinematographic films which
include any work of visual recording and a sound recording accompanying such
visual recording and the expression cinematograph shall be construed as
including any work produced by any process analogous to cinematographic
including video films. It is classified into secondary works as suggested in clause
(b) of section 13 of the act.
Case: R.G. Anand vs Delux Films
Facts: Plaintiff was a producer and play writer of play ‘Hum Hindustani’. The
plaintiff tried to consider the possibility of filming and narrated the play to the
defendant. The defendant, without informing the plaintiff, made the picture ‘New
Delhi’ which was alleged to be based on the said play.
Issue: Whether the film ‘New Delhi’ was an infringement of the plaintiff’s
copyright in play ‘Hum Hindustani’?
Held: No, because the stories were different, only the theme “love story” was
same.
Case: Balwinder Singh vs Delhi Administration
Held: The concept of cinematograph is not only limited to movies being played in
theater it also covers videos and television, they both fall under the preview of
cinematograph film.
Level of Originality:

A television report or documentary may be based upon a live incident or a

newspaper report, thus the act does not prescribe any specified level of
originality in the cinematographic film.

Sound Recordings:

According to section 2(xx) of The Copyright Act, 1957, sound recording

suggests that a recording of sounds from which that sound may be produced
regardless of the medium on which such recording is made or the method by
which the sounds are produced. Clause (c) of section 13 of the act state sound
recordings as a by-product works.
Case: Gramophone Co. India v. Super Cassette Industries
Facts: ‘G.co’, Plaintiff, produced audio records titled ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ by
Rajashree production ltd, who were the owners of cinematographic work. They
had already sold 55 lakhs audio cassettes and 40,000 compact discs titled ‘Hum
Aapke Hain Kaun’. The defendants too launched an audio cassette by adopting
the same title with its design, color scheme, get up and layout deceptively
similar. Permanent Injunction was sought.
Held: Injunction varied by stipulating not to use the same title, design colour
scheme etc with bold letters the record is a version of different artists.
RIGHTS OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER
In the Copyright Act, 1957, the owner possesses the rights which are to prevent
others from using his works in certain ways and to claim compensation for the
usurpation of that right. In this Act, there are two types of rights given to the
owner:
 Economical rights;
 Moral rights.

Economic rights

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 This right is also known as the Exclusive Rights of the copyright holder provided
under Section 14 of the Act. In this Act different types of work come with different
types of rights. Such as:

1. In the case of original literary, musical, and dramatic work:

 Right to reproduce;
 Right to issue copies;
 Right to perform at public;
 Right to make cinematography and sound recording;
 Right to make any translation;
 Right to adaptation; and
 Right to do any other activities related to the translation or adaptation.
2. In the case, of computer program work:
 Right to do any act aforesaid mentioned; and
 Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work.
3. In the case of artistic work:
 Right to reproduce;
 Right to communicate;
 Right to issue copies;
 Right to make any cinematography and sound recording;
 Right to make an adaptation; and
 Right to do any other activities related to the translation or adaptation.
4. In case of a cinematograph film work:
 Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work; and
 Right to communicate.
5. In the case of a sound recording work:
 Right to communicate;
 Right to issue copies; and
 Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work.

Moral rights
In addition to the protection of economic rights, the Copyright Act, 1957
conjointly protects ethical rights, that is due to the actual fact that a literary or
inventive work reflects the temperament of the creator, just as much as the
economic rights reflect the author’s need to keep the body and the soul of his
work out from commercial exploitation and infringement. These rights are
supported by Article 6 of the Berne Convention of 1886, formally referred to as a
world convention for the protection of literary and inventive works, whose core
provision relies on the principle of national treatment, i.e. treats the opposite
good as one’s own.
Section 57 of The Copyright Act, of 1957 recognizes two types of moral rights
which are:
 Right to paternity– which incorporates the right to assert the authorship of the
work, and the right to forestall others from claiming authorship of his work; and
 Right to integrity- which incorporates the right to restrain, or claim damages in
respect of any distortion, modification, mutilation, or any other act relating to the
said work if such distortion, multiplication, or alternative act would be prejudiced
to claimant honor or name.

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 AUTHORSHIP AND OWNERSHIP IN COPYRIGHT
Section 17 of this Act recognizes the author as the first owner, which states that
subject to the provision of this Act, the author of a work shall be the first owner of
the copyright therein:
 In the case of literary or dramatic composition, the author,
 In the case of musical work, the musician,
 In the case of creative work apart from photography, the artist,
 In the case of photographic work, the artist,
 In the case of cinematographic or recording work, the producer,
 In case of any work generated by any computer virus, the one who created it.
However, this provision provided to bound exception:
 In case of creation is made by the author underemployment of the proprietor of
any newspaper, magazine or any periodic, the said proprietor,
 In the case where a photograph is taken, painting or portrait is drawn, a
cinematograph is made for the valuable consideration of any person, such
person,
 In case of work done in the course of the author’s employment under the contract
of service, such employer,
 In case of address or speech delivered on behalf of another person in public,
such person,
 In the case of government works, the government,
 In the case of work done under the direction and control of public undertaking
such public undertaking, such and
 In the case of work done in which the provision of Section 41 apply, concerned
international organizations.

ASSIGNMENT OF COPYRIGHT
The owner of the copyright can generate wealth not only by exploiting it but also
by sharing it with others for mutual benefit. This can be done by the way of
assignment and licensing of copyright.
Only the owner of the copyright has the right to assign his existing or future
copyrighted work either wholly or partly and as a result of such assignment the
assignee becomes entitled to all the rights related to copyright to the assigned
work, and he shall be treated as the owner of the copyright in respect of those
rights.
Mode of the assignment agreement
As per Section 19, these conditions are necessary for a valid assignment:
 It should be in writing and signed;
 It should specify the kinds of rights assigned and the duration or territorial extent;
and
 It should specify the amount of royalty payable if required in any case.
It is also provided that, if the period is not mentioned in the agreement it will be
considered as five years and if the territorial extent is not stipulated in the
agreement, it will be considered as applicable to the whole of India.
Disputes related to the assignment of copyright
According to the Copyright Act, 1957, the appellant board where the receipt of
the complaint by the assignor and after holding necessary inquiry finds that the
assignee has failed to make the exercise of the rights assigned to him, and such
failure is attributed to any act or omission of the assignor, may by suitable order,
revoke such assignment. However, if the dispute arises with respect to the

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 assignment of any copyright then that appellate board may also order the
recovery of any royalty payable.
Operation of law in assignment
According to The Copyright Act, 1957, where under a bequest a person is entitled
to the manuscript of any literary, dramatic or any other kind of work and such
work has not been published before the death of the testator, unless the contrary
is proved such person shall be treated as the owner for such work.
INFRINGEMENT AND REMEDIES
Where a person intentionally or unintentionally infringes the rights of the
copyright holder, the holder may be subject to the following remedies available
under this Act.
Civil remedies
These remedies are given under Section 55 of the Copyright Act, 1957 which are:
Interlocutory injunction
This is the most important remedy against the copyright infringement, it means a
judicial process by which one who is threatening to invade or has invaded the
legal or equitable rights of another is restrained from commencing or continuing
such act, or is commanded to restore matters to the position in which they stood
previous to the relation. Thus for granting the interlocutory injunction, the
following three factors are considered as necessary:
 Prima facie case, an assumption of the court that the plaintiff can succeed in
the case and become eligible for relief.
 Balance of convenience, in it the court will determine which parties suffer the
greater harm, this determination can vary with the facts of each case.
 Irreparable injury, it is difficult to decide and determine on a case by case
basis. Some examples of it include- loss of goodwill or irrevocable damages to
reputation, loss of market share.

Mareva injunction
This is a particular form of the interlocutory injunction which restrains the
defendant from disposing of assets that may be required to satisfy the plaintiff’s
claim or for removing them from the jurisdiction of the Court.
Anton Piller order
This order is passed to take into possession the infringed documents, copies and
other relevant material of the defendant, by the solicitor of the plaintiff. This
order is named after the famous case of Anton Piller KG v/s Manufacturing
Process Ltd, 1976. In this case, the plaintiff Antone Piller, the German
manufacturer is successful in passing ex-parte awards of restraining the use of
his copyrighted products against the defendant.
John Deo’s order
In this order, the Court has the power to injunct rather than those impeded in the
suit, who may be found violating the rights in the field of copyright. Thus this
order is issued against the unknown person, who has allegedly committed some
wrong, but whose identities cannot entertain the plaintiff.
Pecuniary remedies
There are three types of pecuniary remedies provided:

1. An account of profit, which lets the owner seek the sum of money made,
equal to the profit made through unlawful conduct.
2. Compensatory damages, which let the copyright owner seek the
damages he suffered.
3. Conversational damages, which are assessed to the value of the article.

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 Criminal remedies
For infringement of copyright, the criminal remedies provided under Section 63:

 Imprisonment, not less than 6 months which may extend up to 3 years;

 Fine may not be less than 50,000 which may extend up to 2,00,000;
 Search and seizure of copyrighted goods; and
 Delivery of copyrighted goods to the copyrighted owner.
In the case of repeat offenders, the minimum punishment terms of 1 year and a
fine of 1 lakh however, the highest punishment will be the same as the first-time
offender.
EXCEPTIONS
This act shall not constitute copyright infringement in cases of:
Fair Dealing
Fair dealing is the statutory limitation on the exclusive right of the copyright
owner which permits the reproduction or use of copyrighted work in a manner
that otherwise would have constituted infringement. This law is given
under Section 52 of the Copyright Act, 1957 according to which the free uses can
be made for any work except computer programs for the purposes:
 For private and personal use including research,
 For criticism and review,
 For reporting of current events or issues including lectures in public,
 For broadcasting in cinematographic films or by posting photographs,
 For reproduction and reporting of any judicial proceeding,
 For reproduction, or publication of any kind of work prepared by the secretariat of
a legislature,
 For reproduction of any kind of work in a certified copy made or supplied
accordance with any law,
 For reading and recitation of any literary or dramatic work in the public domain,
 For publication of any non-copyright matter bona fide intended for the use of
educational institutes, and
 For recording any sound by the owner of the right in the work.

INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT ORDERS

Chapter IX of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 describes the provisions of
international copyright. Section 40 states the powers to extend copyright to
foreign works and section 42 governs the provisions as to works of certain
international organizations.
The power to extend copyright to foreign works is as follows -
The Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, direct
that all or any provisions of this Act, shall apply.
(a) To publish work first within the territory of India and then outside
(b) To unpublished works, the authors whereof were at the time of the making of
the work, subjects or citizens of a foreign country to which the order relates, in
like manner as if the authors were citizens of India.
(c) In respect of domicile in any territory outside India to which the order relates
in like manner as if such domicile were in India
(d) To any work of which the author was at the date of the first publication
thereof, or, in the case where the author was dead at the date, was at the time of
his death, a subject or citizens of a foreign country to which the order relates in
like manner as if the author was a citizen of India at that date or time.
According to section 42 of the act, it provides power to restrict rights in works of
foreign authors first published in India – If it appears to the Central Government
that a foreign country does not give or has not undertaken to give adequate
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protection to the works of Indian authors, the Central Government may, by order
published in the Official Gazette, direct that such of the provisions of this Act as
confer copyright on works first published after the date specified in the order, the
authors whereof are subjects or citizens of a such foreign country and are not
domiciled in India, and thereupon those provisions shall not apply to such works.
ISSUES IN DIGITAL COPYRIGHTS
Digital Right Management includes techniques which have been developed to
control duplication, modification and distribution of original works. The authors or
the creators of the original works contend that DRM techniques are necessary in
order to protect their interest by preventing free and unauthorized copying and
distribution of their work.
However there are few who support the view that DRM techniques pose
unnecessary hurdles for the public and impede the way of innovation and
creativity by not letting others from being motivated by the original work of
others.
PROVISIONS UNDER INDIAN COPYRIGHT LAW
Many techniques have been developed to protect the original work like digital
watermarking, access and copy controls etc. However, despite the fact that these
techniques have been incorporated in the legislation, regulation and protection of
original works in the digital environment remains a goal that is yet to be
achieved. It is very important that ideas should be available to the general public
so that the flow of creativity must not be blocked. However, creators and authors
must always be incentivized for their efforts. Hence the interest of both must be
kept in mind while enacting and implementing DRM techniques.
Strengthening of Border Measures

Section 53, dealing with the importation of infringing copies, has been substituted
with a new section providing detailed border measures to strengthen the
enforcement of rights by making provisions to control the import of infringing
copies by the Customs Department, disposal of infringing copies and presumption
of authorship under civil remedies.

Protection of Technological Measures

The new section 65A, introduced for protection of technological protection

measures (TPM) used by a copyright owner to protect his rights on the work,
makes circumvention of it a criminal offense punishable with imprisonment.

As a result, any person who circumvents an effective technological measure

applied for the protection of any of the rights, with the intention of infringing such
rights, shall be punishable with imprisonment, which may extend to two years,
and shall also be liable to fine. The rationale is to prevent the possibility of high-
rate infringement (digital piracy) in digital media.

This amendment also clarifies the problem of circumvention impacting the public
interest on access to work facilitated by copyright laws. Sub-section (2) permits
circumvention for specified uses.

Digital Rights Management Information

Section 65B has been introduced to provide protection of rights management

information, which has been defined under clause (xa) of section 2.

This amendment is intended to prevent the removal of the rights management

information without authority and distributing any work, fixed performance or
phonogram, after removal of rights management information. As a result, any
unauthorized and intentional removal or alteration of any rights management
information is a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment, which may

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extend to two years and fine. The rationale of the protection emanates from the
practice in the digital world of managing the rights through online contracts
governing the terms and conditions of use.

The protection of technological measures and rights management information

were introduced in WCT and WPPT as effective measures to prevent the
infringement of copyright in digital environments. The introduction of Sections
65A and 65B is expected to help the film, music and publishing industry in
fighting piracy.

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