Intellectual Property Rights

COPYRIGHTS

By:
Divya Utkarsh
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Law
The ICFAI University Jharkhand
 Topics
1. Introduction - Copyright Act, 1957
2. Copyright – Meaning
3. Salient Features of the Copyright Act, 1957
4. Important Provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957
5. Subject Matter of Copyright
6. Rights of the Copyright Holder
 Introduction - Copyright Act, 1957
• The Copyright Act, 1957, governs the law pertaining to copyright in
India.
• The major goal of the copyright law is to guarantee authors, musicians,
painters, designers, and other creative individuals the right to their
creative interpretation and to enable others to openly develop upon the
concepts and knowledge made available by a work.
• Copyright law suggests that if somebody creates something, he himself
owns it and he only decides what happens next with his creation.
 Copyright - Meaning
• 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 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 Act.
• 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 establishes an entry for the work in the Copyright Register kept
by the Registrar of Copyrights.
 Salient Features of the Copyright Act, 1957
1. Scope of rights conferred to the author

• Literary works, musical works, theatrical works, creative works, sound recordings, and cinematographic films are all
protected by copyright under Section 13 of the Copyright Act of 1957.

2. Provisions to assert the ownership

• The original owner of the copyright is the creator of the work itself, as stated in Section 17 of the Copyrights Act of 1957.

3. Civil and Criminal Remedies

• Section 55 of the Copyright Act of 1957 addresses civil remedies for copyright infringement including restitution,
injunctions, account interpretation, deletion and surrender of copies made infringing, as well as conversion damages.

• Section 63 of the Copyright Act of 1957 specifies criminal penalties for copyright infringement including imprisonment,
fines, searches, the seizure of contraband, etc.

4. Establishment of Copyright Boards and Offices

• The Copyright Act of 1957 makes provisions for the establishment of a copyright board to assist in resolving copyright-
related issues and a copyright office, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Registrar of the Copyright, for the
registration of books and other “works” of art.

• The establishment of an office to be known as the Copyright Office for Act purposes is provided for under Section 9 of the
Copyright Act, 1957.

• The Copyright Board was established under Section 11 of the Copyright Act of 1957.
Important Provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957
Section 2 deals with various definitions of the work which can be covered
under the definition of copyright.
 Section 2(o) deals with literary works,
 Section 2(h) includes all dramatic works under the definition of copyright
protection, and
 Section (p) deals with musical and graphical works.

Section 13 deals with the subject matter of copyright protection.

 According to Section 13(1), all of India is under the purview of the Copyright, and
the following classifications of works are protected by the Copyright:
 Original artistic, musical, dramatic, and literary works
 Sound recording
 Cinematograph films
 Section 13(2) talks about the published and unpublished works of architecture.
 Subject Matter of Copyright
All subject matters protected by copyright are called ‘works’.
According to Section 13 of The Copyright Act 1957, the copyright may be for the
following works:
1. Original Literary Work,
2. Original Dramatic work,
3. Original Musical work,
4. Original Artistic Work,
5. Cinematography films,
6. Sound recordings.
 Rights of the Copyright Holder
In the Copyright Act, 1957, the owner possesses the negative rights which are to prevent others from
using his works in certain ways and to claim compensation for the usurpation of that right.

The Copyright Act, 1957, there are two types of rights given to the owner:
1. Economical rights;
2. Moral rights.

1. Economic Rights (Exclusive Rights)

This right is also known as the Exclusive Rights of the copyright holder provided under Section 14.

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

1. Right to reproduce;
2. Right to issue copies;
3. Right to perform at public;
4. Right to make cinematography and sound recording;
5. Right to make any translation;
6. Right to adaptation; and
7. Right to do any other activities related to the translation or adaptation.
In the case, of computer program work:
1. Right to do any act mentioned in case of case of original literary, musical, and dramatic work; and
2. Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work.

In the case of artistic work:

1. Right to reproduce;
2. Right to communicate;
3. Right to issue copies;
4. Right to make any cinematography and sound recording;
5. Right to make an adaptation; and
6. Right to do any other activities related to the translation or adaptation.

In case of a cinematograph film work:

1. Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work; and
2. Right to communicate.

In the case of a sound recording work:

1. Right to communicate;
2. Right to issue copies; and
3. Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work.
2. Moral Rights (Ethical Rights)
• The Copyright Act, 1957 also protects the 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,1957 recognizes two types of moral rights which are:
1. Right to paternity– the right to assert the authorship of the work, and the right to deter others from
claiming authorship of his work and

2. Right to integrity- the right to restrain, or claim of damages in respect of any distortion, modification,
damage, or any other act relating to the said work of the author.