Copyright FAQs

“An artistic, literary or musical work is the brainchild of the author, the fruit of his labour and so, considered to be his property. So highly is it prized by all civilized nations that nations that it is thought worthy of protection by national laws and international conventions.”

Copyright gives the author of an original work exclusive right for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation, after which time the work is said to enter the public domain. Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete and fixed in a medium. Some jurisdictions also recognize “moral rights” of the creator of a work, such as the right to be credited for the work. Copyright is described under the umbrella term intellectual property along with patents and trademarks.

Copyright has been internationally standardized, lasting between fifty to a hundred years from the author’s death, or a shorter period for anonymous or corporate authorship. Some jurisdictions have required formalities to establishing copyright, but most recognize copyright in any completed work, without formal registration. Generally, copyright is enforced as a civil matter, though some jurisdictions do apply criminal sanctions.

Copyright, is a bundle of rights, which grants protection to the unique expression of ideas. Ideas per se cannot be protected; it is the expression of ideas in a material medium that is the subject matter of copyright protection. Copyright is a negative right and the owner of a copyright gets the right to prevent others from copying his work without his consent towards a commercial end. However, at the same time it gives to the author an exclusive right for the commercial exploitation of his work.

The Copyright Act, 1957 protects original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and cinematograph films and sound recordings from unauthorized uses. Unlike the case with patents, copyright protects the expressions and not the ideas. There is no copyright protection for ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such (Please see Article 9.2. of TRIPS).

No. Acquisition of copyright is automatic and it does not require any formality. Copyright comes into existence as soon as a work is created and no formality is required to be completed for acquiring copyright. However, certificate of registration of copyright and the entries made therein serve as prima facie evidence in a court of law with reference to dispute relating to ownership of copyright.

Copyright does not ordinarily protect titles by themselves or names, short word combinations, slogans, short phrases, methods, plots or factual information. Copyright does not protect ideas or concepts. To get the protection of copyright a work must be original.

The procedure for registration is as follows:

Application for registration is to be made on Form IV (Including Statement of Particulars and Statement of Further Particulars) as prescribed in the first schedule to the Rules; Separate applications should be made for registration of each work; Each application should be accompanied by the requisite fee prescribed in the second schedule to the Rules; and The applications should be signed by the applicant or the advocate in whose favor a Vakalatnama or Power of Attorney has been executed. The Power of Attorney signed by the party and accepted by the advocate should also be enclosed.

Each and every column of the Statement of Particulars and Statement of Further Particulars should be replied specifically.

Please go to the link fee details on the Home Page for details. One can pay fee in favor of ‘Registrar of Copyrights’ payable at ‘new Delhi’. The fee is not reimbursable in case of rejection of the application.

Yes. Any individual who is an author or rights owner or assignee or legal heir can file application for copyright of a work either at the copyright office or by post or by e-filing facility from the copyright Office web-site “www.copyright.gov.in“

Chapter VI of the Copyright Rules, 1958, as amended, sets out the procedure for the registration of a work. Copies of the Act and Rules can be obtained from the Manager of Publications, Publication Branch, Civil Lines, Delhi or his authorized dealers on payment or download from the Copyright Office web-site “www.copyright.gov.in“

Yes. Both published and unpublished works can be registered. Copyright in works published before 21st January, 1958, i.e., before the Copyright Act, 1957 came in force, can also be registered, provided the works still enjoy copyright. Three copies of published work may be sent along with the application. If the work to be registered is unpublished, a copy of the manuscript has to be sent along with the application for affixing the stamp of the Copyright Office in proof of the work having been registered. In case two copies of the manuscript are sent, one copy of the same duly stamped will be returned, while the other will be retained, as far as possible, in the Copyright Office for record and will be kept confidential. It would also be open to the applicant to send only extracts from the unpublished work instead of the whole manuscript and ask for the return of the extracts after being stamped with the seal of the Copyright Office.

When a work has been registered as unpublished and subsequently it is published, the applicant may apply for changes in particulars entered in the Register of Copyright in Form V with prescribed fee.

The process of registration and fee for registration of copyright is same.

Yes. Computer Software or programme can be registered as a ‘literary work’. As per Section 2 (o) of the Copyright Act, 1957 “literary work” includes computer programmes, tables and compilations, including computer databases. ‘Source Code’ has also to be supplied along with the application for registration of copyright for software products.

A web-site contains several works such as literary works, artistic works (photographs etc.), sound recordings, video clips, cinematograph films and broadcastings and computer software too. Therefore, a separate application has to be filed for registration of all these works.

In the case of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, the general rule is that the author, i.e. the person who created the work, is the first owner of the economic rights under copyright. However, where such a work is made in the course of employment, the employer is the first owner of these rights, unless an agreement to the contrary has been made with the author.

In the case of a film, the principal director and the film producer are joint authors and first owners of the economic rights and similar provisions as referred to above apply where the director is employed.

In the case of a sound recording the record producer is the author and first owner of copyright; in the case of a broadcast, the broadcaster; and in case of a published edition, the publisher.

Copyright is, however, a form of property which, like physical property, can be bought or sold, inherited or otherwise transferred, wholly or in part. So, some or all of the economic rights may subsequently belong to someone other than the first owner. In contrast, the moral rights accorded to authors of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and film directors remain with the author or director or pass to his or her heirs on death. Copyright in material produced by a Government department belongs to the Government of India.

Copyright owners generally have the right to authorize or prohibit any of the following things in relation to their works:

a) Copying of the work in any way eg. Photocopying / reproducing a printed page by handwriting, typing or scanning into a computer / taping live or recorded music.
b) Issuing copies of the work to the public.
c) Public delivery of lectures or speeches etc.
d) Broadcasting of the work, audio / video or including it in a cable programme.
e) Making an adaptation of the work such as by translating a literary or dramatic work, transcribing a musical work and converting a computer program into a different computer language or code.
f) Copyright is infringed when any of the above acts are done without authorization, whether directly or indirectly and whether the whole or a substantial part of a work, unless what is done falls within the scope of exceptions to copyright permitting certain minor uses of material.

There are a number of exceptions to copyright that allow limited use of copyright works without the permission of the copyright owner. For example, limited use of works may be possible for research and private study, criticism or review, reporting current events, judicial proceedings, teaching in schools and other educational establishments and not for profit playing of sound recordings.

But if you are copying large amounts of material and/or making multiple copies then you may still need permission. Also where a copyright exception covers publication of excerpts from a copyright work, it is generally necessary to include an acknowledgement. Sometimes more than one exception may apply to the use you are thinking of.

Exceptions to copyright do not generally give you rights to use copyright material; they just state that certain activities do not infringe copyright. So it is possible that an exception could be overridden by a contract you have signed limiting your ability to do things that would otherwise fall within the scope of an exception.

It is important to remember that just buying or owning the original or a copy of a copyright work does not give you permission to use it the way you wish. For example, buying a copy of a book, CD, video, computer program etc does not necessarily give you the right to make copies (even for private use), play or show them in public. Other everyday uses of copyright material, such as photocopying, scanning, downloading from a CD-ROM or on-line database, all involve copying the work. So, permission is generally needed. Also, use going beyond an agreed licence will require further permission.

• Literary, dramatic and musical work
• Artisitic work
• Cinematographic film includes sound track and video film
• Computer programmes/software

The rights of copyright holder are

• to reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means.
• to issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation.
• to perform the work in public, or communicate it to the public.
• to make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work.
• to make any translation of the work.
• to make any adaptation of the work.
• In case of computer programme the rights also includes –
  to sell or give on hire, or offer for sale or hire any copy of the computer programme, regardless of whether such copy has been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions.

Copyright in a work comes into existence automatically when the work is created.

If published within the life time of the author of a literary work, the term is for the life time of the author plus 60 years.

For cinematographic films, records, photographs, posthumous publication, anonymous publication, works of government and international agencies, the term is 60 years from the beginning, of the calendar year following the year in which the work was published.
For broadcasting, the term is 25 years from the beginning of the calendar year following the year, in which the broadcast was made.

Yes, in India a claim to copyright can be registered with filing an application to the registrar of copyright along with prescribed fees.

In India, the first owner of copyright in a work is the author. If the work is done in course of employment then employee is the first owner unless there is an agreement to the contrary. Where the work includes material from different owners, or for example is a translation of an original work, several owners may each have copyright in the final work.

When a work is published by authority of the copyright owner, a notice of, copyright may be placed on publicly distributed copies. As per the Berne Convention for protection of literary and artistic works to which India is a signatory use of copyright notice is optional. It is however, a good idea to incorporate a copyright notice.

Copyright in work is considered to be infringed in the following circumstances- A. When any person without a license granted by the owner of the copyright or the Registrar of Copyrights or in contravention of the conditions of a license so granted or of any conditions imposed by a competent authority under Copyright Act – – does anything, the exclusive right to do which is, by Copyright Act, conferred upon the owner of copyright, or – permits for profit any place to be used for the communication of the work to public where such communication constitutes an infringement of the copyright in the work. B. When any person – – makes for sale or hire, or sells or lets for hire, or by way of trade displays or – offers for sale or hire, or distributes either for the purpose of trade or to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the owner of the copyright, or – by way of trade exhibits in public, any infringing copies of the work. It is not necessary that the alleged infringement should be an exact or verbatim copy of the original but its resemblance with the original in a large measure is sufficient to indicate that it is a copy.

Unlike some other intellectual property rights, copyright is merely a right to prevent unauthorized copying of an original work. The burden of proof in litigation is on the copyright owner to show that copyright exists in the work in question and that the alleged infringer (directly or indirectly) copied the work. If this chain of copying cannot be shown or does not exist, then there is no infringement. If there has been copyright infringement, then court action may be necessary to stop it continuing, and you may be able to claim financial compensation for any acts of infringement.

Copyright notice consists of the following: – The symbol c (letter c in a circle) or the word copyright The year of first publication, and – The copyright owners name. An example of notice: © 2017 Infinvent IP. The copyright notice should be placed on copies in such a way as to give reasonable notice of the claimant of copyright.

Assignment of copyright is not valid till it is in writing, signed by the assignee or by his authorized agent. The assignment should identify the work and specify the rights assigned, the duration and territorial extent of the assignment. The assignment deed must also specify the royalty payable, if any. There is no mandatory provision to register a deed of assignment of copyright. However, these details need to be recorded while registering copyright at serial 11 of Statement of Particulars.

Courts are empowered to grant the following relief in case of infringement of copyright: – Temporary and permanent injunctions – Impounding and destruction of all infringing copies – Actual monetary damages plus the infringer’s profits – Statutory damages – Court costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees. The Court trying any offence, under Section 66 of the Copyright Act may, whether the alleged offender is convicted or not, order that all copies of the work in the possession of the alleged offender, which appear to be infringing copies be delivered up to the owner of copyright. In addition to civil remedy, the Copyright Act enables the owner of a copyright to take criminal proceedings against the infringer. Knowledge/mensrea of the infringer to commit the infringement should necessarily be proved for this purpose. The offence of infringement of copyright is punishable with imprisonment which may extend from a minimum period of six months to a maximum period of three years and a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakhs.

For effective implementation of Copyright Act, the response of enforcement authorities to cases of infringement needs to be swift. Under Section 64 of the Copyright Act, 1957, any police officer, not below the rank of a sub – inspector, may if he is satisfied that an offence in respect of copyright in any work has been, is being, or is likely to be committed, seize without warrant, all copies of the work, and all plates used for the purpose of making infringing copies of the work, wherever found and produce them before a magistrate as soon as practicable.

Copyright applies to both published and unpublished works. Further, it is not necessary under the Indian Copyright Act to register with the Copyright Office to get copyright protection. Registration of the work is however a highly recommended because such registration is helpful in an infringement suit. As per the Copyright Act, the Register of copyrights (where the details of the work are entered on registration) is prima facie evidence of the particulars entered therein. The documents purporting to be copies of any entries therein, or extracts from the Register which are certified by the Registrar of copyrights and sealed with the seal of the Copyright Office, are admissible as evidence in all courts without proof or production of the original.