The Copyright Act 1957 as amended governs the subject of copyright law in India.

The Act is
applicable from 21 January 1958. The history of copyright law in India can be traced back to its
colonial era under the British Empire. The Copyright Act 1957 was the first post-independence
copyright legislation in India and the law has been amended six times since 1957. The most
recent amendment was in the year 2012, through the Copyright (Amendment) Act 2012.

copyright, the exclusive, legally secured right to reproduce, distribute, and perform a literary,
musical, dramatic, or artistic work.

Now commonly subsumed under the broader category of legal regulations known
as intellectual-property law, copyright is designed primarily to protect an artist, a publisher,
or another owner against specific unauthorized uses of his work (e.g., reproducing the work
in any material form, publishing it, performing it in public, filming it, broadcasting it, or
making an adaptation of it). A copyright supplies the holder with a limited monopoly over the
created material that assures him of both control over its use and a portion of its pecuniary
(monetary) benefits.

Copyright is a type of Intellectual Property, like trademarks or patents. It encourages

creativity by giving creators exclusive rights over anyone copying, publishing or distributing
their work. This means the creator can get a licence or get paid for copies of their work. It is
also meant to increase public access to works because authors are more likely to publish if
their work is protected.

Differentiate between trademark and copyright

Copyright and trademark come under intellectual property. Although both look the same,
sometimes it creates confusion in the readers' minds. Let us give a brief idea about copyright
and trademark and the difference between them

Copyright

The main objective of copyright is to protect the artist's original work. Work may be a photo,
book, painting, software code; article etc. copyright gives the owner a right to reproduce
their work or profit off their underlying work.
The principle involved is pretty simple "If you create something new or original work, you
have to choose what to do". To get the copyrights, you must register first and get permission
from the respective government by paying fees.
In India, there is a unique act called Indian copyright Act 1957 which gives guidelines to
register and protect the artist's original work.

Trademark

The main objective of a trademark is to protect a word, a phrase, a symbol or a device.

Trademarks can be a brand name, logo, tagline or slogan. For example, Coca-Cola, Apple
etc. Trademarks help the business distinguish their products and make customers distinguish
them in the market.
For example, there are many cool drinks in the market, there are many black cool drinks in
the market; to distinguish Coca-Cola from the market is easier, if they trademark their name,
logo and formula.
To get a trademark, first the company or person has to register their product according to
government rules. In India, there is a trademark Act 1999, which gives the guidelines and
procedure to register with appropriate fees.

Differences

The major differences between a trademark and a copyright are as follows −

Copyright Trademark

The symbol for copyright is © The symbol for a trademark is ™

Music, software, movies etc., are Goods and services have a trademark.
copyrighted.

It protects from copying, selling Others can't use similar words or phrases etc.

Comes under the Indian copyright Act Comes under Trademark Act 1999
1957

Shields original creation. Shields Marks (brand marks).

Issued for the long term. Issued for a short term when compared to
copyrights.

Examples − Batman characters in comic For example, only the Nike Company can use
books and movies. the word NIKE and nobody else can use the
word.

How Copyrighting Works

When someone creates a product that is viewed as original and that required significant
mental activity to create, this product becomes an intellectual property that must be
protected from unauthorized duplication. Examples of unique creations include computer
software, art, poetry, graphic designs, musical lyrics and compositions, novels, film, original
architectural designs, website content, etc. One safeguard that can be used to legally protect
an original creation is copyright.2

Under copyright law, a work is considered original if the author created it from independent
thinking void of duplication. This type of work is known as an Original Work of Authorship
(OWA). Anyone with an original work of authorship automatically has the copyright to that
work, preventing anyone else from using or replicating it. The copyright can be registered
voluntarily by the original owner if they would like to get the upper hand in the legal system
in the event that the need arises.

Not all types of work can be copyrighted. A copyright does not protect ideas, discoveries,
concepts, or theories. Brand names, logos, slogans, domain names, and titles also cannot be
protected under copyright law. For an original work to be copyrighted, it has to be in
tangible form.32 This means that any speech, discoveries, musical scores, or ideas have to
be written down in physical form in order to be protected by copyright.
 Copyright Trademark

The symbol for copyright is © The symbol for trademark is ™

Music, software, movies etc. are Goods and services have a trademark.
copyrighted.

It protects from copying, selling Others can't use similar words or phrases etc.

Comes under Indian copyright Act 1957 Comes under Trademark Act 1999

Shields original creation. Shields Marks (brand marks).

Issued for the long term. Issued for a short term, when compared to
copyrights.

Examples − Batman characters in comic For example, only the Nike Company can use
books, movies. the word NIKE and nobody else can use the
word.