UNDERSTANDING THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT IN INDIA by Sidrah Jami

Posted on: January 23, 2021 Posted by: admin Comments: 0

Author: Sidrah Jami, Student at Amity University, Noida.

ABSTRACT

Intellectual Property Rights play an important role in today’s world. The paper specifically focuses on the concept of copyright. The paper firstly provides an introduction to IPR. Secondly, the paper provides a history of copyright in India and focuses on the concept of copyright. It also covers the different types of work that are covered under Copyright. Thirdly, the paper focuses on the rights of the author like moral, negative and economical rights. Fourthly, the paper focuses on the term and infringement of copyright. The last section emphasizes changes made in the Copyright Amendment Act 2012.

INTRODUCTION

Legal scholars have got the concept of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the world. This concept gives protection to the rights of the inventor, creator and owner. It can be characterized as trademarks, copyrights, patents, geographical indications and designs. It has been recognized at national and international platforms. The World Trade Organization (WTO) plays an important role in protecting Intellectual Property Rights.

HISTORY OF COPYRIGHT IN INDIA

Copyright was first time introduced during the British Raj in 1847. Under this, the intellectual property law was related to the copyright that was first discovered in the form of enactment during the Britisher’s regime. Later in 1847, the term of copyright was for the lifetime of the author in addition to seven years after the death of the author. The act provided that any type of work that is published in books then the copyright will be vested with the proprietor or the author. Registration was considered necessary for the authorization of the rights of the creator. The second phase was the passing of the Copyright Act 1914 by the legislature. This act was based on the United Kingdom’s Copyright Act 1911. The Indian Copyright Act 1914, was applicable to the region. This act dealt with certain changes like the (i) introduction of criminal sanctions for copyright infringement under Section 7-12. (ii) The act also widened the scope of copyright which included the right of the author to perform, produce, publish a translation of work. The third phase of the evolution of copyright was after independence in 1947. The Indian Parliament passed the Copyright Act 1957 which is still in existence. This act was later amended in 2012. In May 2012, the Indian Parliament passed the Copyright Amendment Bill 2012. This bill made the copyright law in accordance with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) with the signing of the two treaties namely WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT).

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?

Copyright can be defined as an exclusive right that is provided to an individual or a group of individuals for the protection of the work they’ve created from any type of translation, adaptation, distribution of the work by the other individual without the consent of the person who has created the product [1]. The main aim of the copyright is to protect and provide basic rights and protection to the author of the produced work. It plays an important role in the national as well as international domain. Copyright helps in protecting the original work that has been made by the author. It also focuses on protecting the rights of the author. Copyright has evolved in many countries over various decades. It has played a crucial role in protecting the work in the national and international scenario.

Firstly, the work that is produced by the author should be original in nature. This work should not be copied or plagiarized from any other external sources.
Secondly, the work that is produced by the author should be in intangible form. Ideas cannot be covered under the purview of the copyright domain.
Thirdly, the work should not be published anywhere before.
Fourthly, the author who has produced the work should be a citizen of India at the time of publishing his work.
Section 13 of the Copyright Act includes the various types of work that can be objected under copyright:

– Literary Works: It includes work that is related to literature. It can cover proses, poems, stories.
– Dramatic Work: It covers any type of acting scene, entertainment in a show or choreographic work.

– Musical Work: It protects the music but doesn’t cover words or any actions performed during the song.

– Artistic Work: It protects the drawings, sculptures or any type of work that is related to any artistic qualities. It can also cover architectural work or a color scheme.

-Computer Programs: Under this copyright protects the computer programs that can be produced under the Copyright Act. The computer software should be original in nature.

-Cinematograph Work: It includes any type of work that is visual in nature. It can also include visual and sound recording.

WORKS THAT ARE NOT COVERED UNDER THE COPYRIGHT

There are different types of work that are not covered under the Copyright. Words that are in a tangible form cannot be covered under copyright. Names, titles, slogans, phrases, symbols, methods are not covered under the copyright but are covered under the trademark [3]. Procedure, Ideas, plans, principles, discoveries are studied under the patent or trade secret laws. The work that has been published before cannot be covered under Intellectual Property Rights. The copyrighted work that has been expired also cannot be further protected under the copyright.

RIGHTS OF AUTHOR

Copyright is a bundle of rights that are provided to the authors by the judiciary. Section 14 of Chapter 3 and sector 57 of Chapter 11 of the Indian Copyright Act provides exclusive and special rights for the author. These rights can be divided into three categories:

(i) Statutory Rights or Negative Rights
Statutory right provides exclusive original legal rights to the author for the creation of his work. It provides a negative duty which prohibits the other individual from using the work of the original author without his permission and the consent of the author.

(ii) Economic Rights
Economic rights provide financial benefits to the author. The author can get royalty by assigning his right to the other individual either wholly or partially. Every copyright statute provides exclusive rights to the copyright holders. There are different types of rights which are provided to the copyright holder like the adaption rights, rental rights, distribution rights, translation rights, public performance rights, reproduction rights and public display of works rights.

(iii) Moral Rights
Copyright law helps in the protection of the author even after he has transferred his rights of the copyrighted work to others partially or wholly. Moral rights ensure and are granted to the author so that they can protect from any reproduction of work by other individuals and can keep their name on the work forever. It helps in protection from offensive action which can tarnish the reputation of the author.

TERM OF COPYRIGHT

The term of copyright is covered from Section 22 to Section 29 under Chapter 5 of the Indian Copyright Act 1957. Registration is not considered necessary for copyrighted work. The author gets the copyright on his creation once his work takes a tangible form. The term of the copyrighted work which includes literary, dramatic, artistic work will be 60 years from the date of publication.

INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT

Infringement of copyright is given under Section 51 of the Indian Copyright Act 1957. The copyright provides exclusive rights to the author for his produced work. This section provides that if any work is used without the consent of the author then that amounts to infringement of copyright. There are various acts that can be considered as an infringement of copyright like [4]:
(i) Performing any task without the consent of the author
(ii) Using any copyrighted work for financial benefit
(iii) Distribution of work for trade
(iv) Reproduction of any copyrighted work
(v) Translation of copyrighted work without the consent of the author
(vi) Reselling or renting copyrighted material to others

There were many changes that were brought up in the Copyright Amendment Act 2012. They can be characterized below:

(i) Amendments made in relation to the cinematograph films, artistic works and sound recordings.

The changes which were made in this provision was, that the reproduction of cinematograph film, sound recording or artistic work can be stored in any medium through electronic ways.

(ii) WCT and WPPT
Article 11 of the TRIPS and Article 7 and 9 of the WPPT provides commercial rental rights to the individual for computer programs and cinematograph films.
The word “hire” was in section 14 (d)(e) and was replaced with commercial rental relating to the cinematograph film or the sound recording.

(iii) Amendments related to the Assignments and Licenses
According to section 18(1) the owner of any work or a prospective owner of future work may assign the copyright to any individual and in case of any future work, the assignment can only come into existence once the work comes into existence. It also says that the owner of any literary or musical work can only assign the right to receive royalties as a part of film or sound recording.

(iv) Amendments facilitating access to works
– Grant of Compulsory Licenses (Section 31,A,B)
– Grant of Statutory Licenses (Section 31C,D)
– Administration of Copyright Societies (Section 33,34,35)
– Fair Use Provisions (Section 52)
– Access to copyrighted works by the Disabled (Section 31B,52(1))
– Relinquishment of copyright (Section 21)

(v) Making strict amendments in relation to internet piracy
According to section 53, there have been strict provisions to control and the import and disposal of the infringing copies by the Customs Department. Section 65A has also been introduced in the amendment act for the protection of the technological protection measures (TPM) which is used by the author to protect his copyright rights. The act also introduced Section 65B for the protection of rights management information.

(vi) Changes in the Copyright Board
There has been a change in Section 11 which provided that the Copyright Board will be consisting of one chairman and two members.

CONCLUSION

Copyright has been given under the Indian Copyright Act 1957. Copyright can be defined as an exclusive right that is provided to an individual or a group of individuals for the protection of the work they’ve created from any type of translation, adaptation, distribution of the work by the other individual without the consent of the person who has created the product. It includes various works like literary works, dramatic works, cinematographic film, computer software, sound and music. The copyright act has laid down various provisions for violation of copyright. It has played a crucial role in protecting the rights of the author in the era of 21^st century.

REFERENCES

VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2