History of Copyright Law in India
1. Colonial Era (British India)
o Indian Copyright Act of 1847: The first piece of legislation related to copyright
in India was introduced during British rule. It largely mirrored the British
copyright law.
o 1911 Imperial Copyright Act: A significant change occurred with the enactment
of the Imperial Copyright Act, which applied across the British Empire, including
India. This law centralized copyright protection but still followed British
standards.
2. Post-Independence
o Copyright Act of 1957: After independence, India developed its own distinct
copyright law, replacing the 1911 Act. The 1957 law recognized a broader range
of creative works, including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, as well
as cinematograph films and sound recordings. It also established the concept of
"moral rights," which give creators the right to claim authorship and object to
modifications of their work that could harm their reputation.
o Amendments (1983, 1984, 1992, 1994): These amendments modernized Indian
copyright law, introducing protection for new forms of media, such as computer
software and expanding protection for performing artists.
3. Copyright (Amendment) Act of 2012: This was one of the most significant revisions in
Indian copyright law. It aligned India's copyright regime with international agreements
like the TRIPS Agreement (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and
the WIPO Copyright Treaty (World Intellectual Property Organization). Key features
included:
o Introduction of provisions for digital works and internet-related copyright issues.
o Strengthening moral rights.
o Protection for works in new technological formats.
o Provisions to ensure fair compensation to authors and creators, including ensuring
that royalties from music compositions go to the original creators.
International History of Copyright Law
1. Early History (Pre-modern era)
o 15th Century - Gutenberg Printing Press: The invention of the printing press in
the 15th century made the mass production of books possible, leading to concerns
about authors' rights. Early copyright protections began as privileges granted by
monarchs or local rulers, primarily aimed at protecting printers rather than
authors.
o Statute of Anne (1710): The world's first modern copyright law was enacted in
England in 1710. The Statute of Anne granted authors exclusive rights to their
works for a limited period, establishing the idea of copyright as a statutory right.
This was a revolutionary concept, shifting control from publishers to authors.
2. Development in Europe and the U.S.
o France (1791, 1793): France introduced its first copyright laws after the French
Revolution, providing protections to authors and creators, including moral rights.
o United States Copyright Act of 1790: The U.S. passed its first federal copyright
law based on the principles established in the Statute of Anne. It provided
protection for books, maps, and charts for 14 years, renewable for another 14
years.
o Berne Convention (1886): One of the most important milestones in international
copyright law. The Berne Convention was established to protect the rights of
authors across national borders. It introduced principles of automatic protection
(no need for formal registration) and the concept of moral rights.
3. 20th Century Developments
o Universal Copyright Convention (1952): To accommodate countries that were
not part of the Berne Convention, particularly the United States, the Universal
Copyright Convention was established under the UNESCO framework. It
provided an alternative framework for international copyright protection.
o WIPO (1967): The World Intellectual Property Organization was established to
promote and protect intellectual property rights globally.
o TRIPS Agreement (1994): As part of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the
TRIPS Agreement linked intellectual property protection, including copyright, to
international trade rules. It required all member countries to adhere to minimum
standards for copyright protection.
4. Digital Era
o WIPO Copyright Treaty (1996): As technology and the internet evolved, this
treaty was created to address issues related to digital works, ensuring that
copyright law keeps pace with technological advancements.
o Marrakesh Treaty (2013): This treaty aimed to facilitate access to published
works for people with disabilities, particularly those who are blind or visually
impaired.
India's copyright law today is a mix of these international treaties and conventions, reflecting
both its colonial legacy and its obligations under modern international law agreements.
Introduction: Copyright
Copyright is a type of intellectual property right. Authors who have original works such as works
of literature (including computer programs, tables, collections, computer datasets, expressed in
words, codes, schemes, or in any other context, along with a device readable medium), dramatic,
musical, and artistic works, cinematographic films, and audio recordings are all awarded
copyright safeguards under Indian law. Instead of protecting the ideas themselves, Copyright
Law safeguards manifestations of ideas. Literary works, theatrical works, musical works,
creative works, cinematographic films, and sound recordings all have copyright protection
under Section 13 of the Copyright Act of 1957. For instance, the Act protects literary works such
as books and computer programs.
The term “copyright” refers to a collection of exclusive rights that Section 14 of the Act grants to
the owner of the copyright. Only the copyright owner or another person who has permission to
do so from the copyright owner may exercise these rights. These rights include the ability to
adapt, reproduce, publish, translate, and communicate with the public, among other things.
Copyright registration just establishes an entry for the work in the Copyright Register kept by the
Registrar of Copyrights and does not grant any rights.
The Madras High Court held that “copyright law is to preserve the fruits of a man’s effort,
labour, talent, or test from annexation by other persons” in Sulamangalam R. Jayalakshmi v.
Meta Musicals, Chennai (2000).
Nature of copyright : In nature, copyright is an incorporeal property. The premise that the
legitimate owner developed or created the work justifies the property in it. The property owner
has two options for disposing of his property: outright sale (assignment of his rights) or
licensing. Copyright is also a collection of exclusive rights. A negative right is one that allows
the owner to stop someone from copying his creation or carrying out any other actions that,
under Copyright Law, are only permitted to be carried out by him. The exclusive rights to works
protected by copyright have a term limit. In contrast to physical property, which endures for the
lifetime of the thing on which it is bestowed, copyright only exists for a finite amount of time.
After this time period has passed, the work enters the ‘public domain’. In other words, it
becomes public property and is available for use without restriction by everyone. Therefore, the
public interest is served by exclusive rights to copyrighted works for a short time.
Basic Concepts of Copyright:
Copyrights are all about the ownership of works that fall under different categories of artistic,
dramatic, literary worksFor example, poems, novels, presentations, computer programs,
newspapers, databases, films, choreography, drawings, paintings, sculptures, photos,
architecture, musical compositions, dramatic scripts, maps etc. All these works are copyrightable
provided they are original and the author’s self-creation. We all have heard of the word “pirated”,
which is often used with books and tapes etc. It pertains to illegally reproducing the works of
others. The act of copying is the easiest for the doer and the most damaging and frustrating for
the victim. For this reason, copyright was established as an intellectual property to protect the
rights of authors.
Registration for copyright
For copyrights, there’s no formal need for registration. That means for an author to claim their
copyright against a third party’s act of reproducing, selling or distributing their work, it is not
mandatory to show a registered copyright. This means that a copyright takes effect impliedly.
Duration one can claim copyright
The duration for ownership of a copyright as per the TRIPS Agreement by WTO and most
national legislations is 50 years plus life of the author. After the expiry of this period, the work
will become a public property and open for free use.
Privileges covered under a copyright
Copyright gives the author exclusive rights related to the reproduction, broadcast, translation,
adaptation, and performance etc. All the rights that are given to the author exclude others from
exercising the same.
Moral rights
There are times when the author sells their work following which the copyrights are also
transferred to the new owner. The author still retains the moral rights in their work despite
transferring the legal rights. For example, their name must always be displayed with their work
no matter whosoever derives economic benefits from it. The author deserves to be given the
entitlement to the continuing goodwill being the creator of the work.
Importance of copyrights
Copyright is the only way of securing the status and position of a person as an author. They
invest their time, effort, physical and material resources to come up with the final product in the
shape of their work. They deserve the exclusive right to keep their work to themselves. It’s also
possible that they are completely depending on their work for their livelihood; hence nobody gets
to exploit their effort and deprive them from the entitlement.
Subject matter of copyright
All subject matters protected by copyright are called 'works'. Thus according to Section 13 of
The Copyright Act 1957, it may be subjected for the following works:
● Original Literary Work,
● Original Dramatic work,
● Original Musical work,
● Original Artistic Work,
● Cinematography films, and
● Sound recordings
Original Literary Work
Literary work refers to works that are in writing. The Act does not classify literary work, but we
understand that as work that are captured in writing. The act says that literary work includes
computer programmes, tables, and compilations including computer databases. The literary work
need not have any literary merit and it is not the job of the courts to look into the literary merit of
copyright work. So, courts have found that football fixture lists, mathematical tables, tombola
tickets, etc. are capable of copyright protection. The number of words in a copyrighted material
is not an indicator of quality and the author of copyrighted work is the author who makes the
work or who creates the work.
There are certain things that cannot be protected under a copyright. For instance, phrases, names,
invented words and slogans cannot form a part of copyright protections. The names especially
used in commerce or in trade are protected by trademarks and invented work and slogans, for
example the slogan which Pepsi used a while ago "Yeh Dil Mange more", which is an
advertising slogan was held something that can not protected under the copyright Act.
Original Dramatic Work
According to 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.
Original Musical Work
According to 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. In order to qualify for copyright
protection, a musical work must be original.
Original Artistic Work
An artistic work as mentioned in the Act, a painting, a sculpture, a drawing includes a diagram,
map, chart or plan, an engraving or a photograph, and whether or not any such work possesses
artistic quality. A work of architecture is included as an artistic work and any work of artistic
craftsmanship can also come under the ambit of an artistic work.
The author of an artistic work is the artist of the artistic work other than photograph. The
photograph is a person who takes the photograph, who is regarded as the author. Recently there
was an issue with regard to a selfie taken by a monkey. The Court has held that, the person has to
be a human being and so far intellectual property rights have only covered Intellectual work of
humans.
Sound Recording
"Sound recording" means a recording of sounds from which sounds may be produced regardless
of the medium on which such recording is made or the method by which the sounds are
produced. A phonogram and a CD-ROM are sound recordings.
The term of copyright varies depending on the kind of work that is protected. Literary, musical,
dramatic and artistic works are protected for the life of the author and after the death for a period
of 60 years. For posthumous work published after the death of the author. It is 60 years from the
time the work is first published. Therefore, cinematograph films sound recording, government
works, works of international organizations all are prospected for 60 years from the work first
published.
Cinematographic Films
According to the Copyright Act,1957 cinematographic films includes 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.
