RIGHT OF THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITY TO

ACCESS MATERIAL VIS A- VIS COPYRIGHT LAW

PRESENTED TO: PRESENTED BY:

DR. GEETIKA WALIA NAVDITYA LALSOTIA
(ASST. PROF. OF LAW) 18148
GROUP NO. 25
INTRODUCTION:

• Copyright is a form of intellectual property protection granted under Indian law to the creators of original
works of authorship such as literary works (including computer programs, tables and compilations including
computer databases which may be expressed in words, codes, schemes or in any other form, including a
machine readable medium), dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematographic films and sound recordings.
• Copyright law protects expressions of ideas rather than the ideas themselves. Under section 13 of the
Copyright Act 1957, copyright protection is conferred on literary works, dramatic works, musical works,
artistic works, cinematograph films and sound recording. For example, books, computer programs are
protected under the Act as literary works.
• Copyright protection is conferred on all Original literary, artistic, musical or dramatic, cinematograph and
sound recording works. Original means, that the work has not been copied from any other source.
COPYRIGHT AND DISABLE PERSON:

• The WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) in 2006, conducted a study on different
national approaches to copyright disability exceptions for VIPs. Over 60 countries have an
exception in their Copyright laws permitting conversion of works into accessible formats for the
benefit of print disabled persons, although it may vary on account of the beneficiaries covered,
formats permitted, restrictions on who can convert, etc.
• Visually impaired and otherwise print disabled persons account for almost 285 million of the
world’s population, of which approximately 47 million are in India. The Indian Copyrights Act,
1957 as it stood before the 2012 Amendment, was deficient to protect the interest of the print
disabled community.
SPECIAL PROVISION FOR ACCESS TO THE
DISABLED:
1. Compulsory License for the Disabled
2. Fair Use Rights for the Disabled
3. Digital Rights Management Systems
CASE STUDIES:

• Deaf Employees Welfare Association v Union of India.

• Union of India v National Federation of the Blind.
CONCLUSION:

• The provisions of the abovementioned two enactments show that the Copyright protection in India
is strong and effective enough to take care of the Copyright of the concerned person. The protection
extends not only to the Copyright as understood in the traditional sense but also in its modern
aspect.
• Till the country has such a sound and strong legal base for the protection of Intellectual Property
Rights, the judiciary should play an active role in the protection of these rights, including the
copyright. The situation is, however, not as alarming as it is perceived and the existing legal system
can effectively take care of any problems associated with copyright infringement.