Copyright

Meaning of Copyright
Copyright creates in the author an exclusive
right to produce, reproduce, publish and
perform his / her work in all ways known and
possible
Whether one gets the copyrights registered or
not, these rights subside in him/her
However, copyright registration furnishes
evidence of authorship of the work in case of
disputes
 Copyright ownership advantages
• Author can license his/her work for royalty to
prospective assignees
• Author can weed out predators/ abusers of
his work by taking them to court of law
• Court decision get speedier with registered
copyright material disputes
• Helps the authors and their successors to
establish their titles in cases of disputes
 Content and Substance of
Copyright
• Original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic
works
• Cinematography films
• Sound recordings
 Rights of the copyright holder
In case of literary, dramatic and musical work,
• To reproduce the work in any material form
• To publish the work
• To perform the work in public
• To produce, reproduce, perform or publish and
translation of the work
• To make cinematography film or record
• To communicate the work by broadcast to the public
• To make any adaptation of the work
 Rights of the copyright holder
In case of artistic work in any material form,
• To reproduce the work in any material form
• To publish the work
• To make cinematography film
• To make any adaptation of the work
 Rights of the copyright holder
In case of Cinematography film,
• To make copy of the film
• To publicly demonstrate the film in part or in full
• To make any records of the soundtrack in part or in
full
• To communicate the film by broadcast to the public
 Rights of the copyright holder
In case of computer software,
• To reproduce
• To publish
• To perform
• To translate
• To make cinematography film or record
• To communicate the work by broadcast
• To make any adaptation of the work
 Periods of copyright
The period for which the copyright subsists (support
oneself) is the lifetime of the author plus sixty years
from the calendar year in which the author dies
In case of films the sixty years are calculated from the
beginning of the calendar year in which they were
published
In case of joint authors, sixty years begin from the
calendar year of the death of the last of the author
 Assignment and relinquishment
• The owner of the copyright can assign (someone to
whom a right of property is legally transferred ) any
one or more of his numerous rights or any
combination of those rights
• It can be limited to certain areas or may be
worldwide
• It can be limited to parts of a single rights
• Performing rights can be assigned to people
• Copyrights may be assigned for a certain period
 Assignment and relinquishment
• Oral Agreement, a mere delivery of the work or a
mere receipt for money received do not create any
assignment
• Owner of the copyright may relinquish his rights by a
notice to the Registrar.
• When Registrar publishes a notice to this regard, the
work becomes public property.
•
 License
• License is ordinarily understood as one given
for a specified functions under the copyright
which may be extensive or limited
• Unlike an assignee, licensee can not transfer
his rights
• Assignment transfers the title in the copyright,
whereas, license merely permits certain things
to be done by the licensee
 Infringement of Copyright
• Copyright owner is entitled to publish, perform,
translate, modify the work
• Anybody other than the owner does any such things to
the work in question, such person shall be deemed to
have infringed the copyright of the owner
• Copying in full or part by unauthorized persons of
literary work amounts to infringement
• Infringement in Musical work can be of two types
– Printing and selling copies of the music
– By performing music work in public for profit
 Computer software
It amounts to infringement,
• Software package is purchased for one
computer and used on all other computers
• Number of software packages purchased are
not equal to number of systems on which they
are run
• One duplicate copy only is permitted to incase
of damage of the original
 Fair Use- What is not
infringement?
Ideas, systems, information and things of practical use are not
subject to copyright
• Work used for research, private study and for reviews and
criticism
• Reproduction for the purpose of judicial proceedings
• Reproduction in accordance with the law
• Publication of extracts
• Reproduction by a teacher for classroom reference and
teaching
• Making 3 copies of a book for the library if the book is not
available in India
 Fair Use- What is not
infringement?
• Reproduction of matters published in official Gazette
• Reproduction of Acts of Legislatures gazetted, provided
they are published with commentary
• Reproduction of the any report of a committee
appointed by the Government
• Reproduction of the publicly displayed or used material
• Publication in a newspaper of a report of a speech
made in public. Publication of the speech made before
private audience is infringement
 Case Laws
• Hawkins Cookers got registered their artistic
label under the Copyright Act. Another
company dealing in pressure cookers applied
this copyrighted label on their cookers which
amounted to infringement of Copyright. Court
upheld the rights of the Hawkins cookers in this
case.
(Hawkins Cookers Vs. Magicook Appliances
Company 2003)
• Plaintiff (A person who brings an action in a
court of law) was telecasting news
programmes in Hindi Aajtak. Defendant
adopted a name for his newspaper Khabarein
Aajtak. The fact that the latter had his name
registered under the Press and Registration of
Books Act does not save him for copying the
name Aajtak.
(Living Media India Ltd. Vs. Jitender V. Jain.
2002)
‘Version’ recording of the soundtrack means,
a sound recording where by being inspired by
the original melody, a distinct interpretation
different both in presentation, rhythm and
orchestral arrangement emerges under
section 51 (J) if the Copyright Act.
Persons adopting version recording do not
have any independent right to Copyright from
the original owners of the song. Hence version
recorders cannot complain of their copyright
against others who create another version
Songs like, ‘Chalo Dildar Chalo’ from Pakeezah, songs of Beatles
set to a particular rhythm, ‘ ‘Raghupati Raghava Rajaram’
composed and sung by Pandit. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar at
Mahatma Gandhi’s meetings and ‘Main vari vari Jaon’ sung
in ‘Dil Se’ and ‘Payoji Maine Ram Ratn Dhan Payo’ of Meera
Bhajans Composed by Sri D. V. Paluskar are instances where
several musicians have composed version recordings. Such
later musicians cannot claim any copyright in their works
and proceed to take action for infringement of their works.
(Super Cassette Industries Ltd. Vs. Bhathla Cassettes India
Pvt. Ltd. 2004)