By Anushka Gupta
---
What is a Copyright?
Copyright is a type of Intellectual Property Right. An Intellectual Property right refers to rights which are given to individuals for any creations and work of their own mind. An intellectual property right gives the owner the exclusive right to use and reproduce their creation, preventing any other individual to do the same without the consent of the owner.
Copyright, specifically, is the
Intellectual Property right given for Literary or Artistic work including
Novels, Poems, Movies, Musical Works such as Songs or Compositions, Paintings,
Performances, Creative Software, etc. Unlike some other Intellectual Property
rights such as Patents, the Copyright only gives rights for work and not just
ideas alone. In India, Copyright is governed by the Copyright Act of 1957 which
was amended recently in 2012.
A copyright is often represented
using the following symbol: © accompanied with the phrase ‘all rights reserved’ which
can be expanded to mean ‘all rights of further publishing and reproducing are
reserved by the owner of the Copyright’.
When can a Copyright be filed?
A Copyright can be filed or
registered for when the creation is owned by the individual making the
registration and the creation can be termed as ‘original’. What this would
imply is that copyright cannot be claimed on commonly known and unoriginal
information (such as telephone directories, standard calendars, etc.) and on
works that didn’t involve at least some sense of creativity from the creator.
An important case where the meaning of ‘original’ was deliberated upon by the
Supreme Court was Eastern Book Company v.
D.B Modak where it was determined that EBC’s publications of Supreme Court
Judgements were not copyrightable because the Judgements are published in the
public domain and thus, their publication could not be considered ‘original’
works and lacked ‘a minimal degree of creativity’.
Additionally, copyright is only
given for artistic or literary work and not for artistic or literary ideas.
This refers to the fact that for something to be copyrighted, it must be a
tangible creation. Thus, ideas and methods cannot be copyrighted. So, while an
individual may be able to copyright a work that they have authored, they won’t
be able to copyright the idea/story which is represented in the work.
How does one obtain a Copyright?
Copyright is an automatic right. As
soon as an original artistic or literary work is created, the first owner has
the Copyright of that work and no one may reproduce their work without
permission. Nevertheless, you may have come across the concept of registering
for a copyright. The reason the registration of Copyright is still a valuable
step is that it gives courts a ‘proof of ownership’ on part of the creator. In
the situation that Copyright is not registered, this proof would have to be
obtained in other ways. If the owner wishes to avoid the potential hassle of
obtaining proof in other ways, they can file or register a Copyright.
Copyright registration can be filed
both offline and online (since 2014). As explained in the 45th Section of the
Copyright Act, If the individual chooses to opt for the offline method, they
must file an application of the XIVth form
mentioned in the First Schedule of rules to the Copyright Act of 1957[1] and along with the prescribed
Copyright fee[2],
send it to or deliver personally to Registrar of Copyrights. The Registrar of
Copyrights is located at Plot no. 32, Boudhik Sampada Bhawan, Sector 14,
Dwarka, New Delhi – 110075. It is to be noted that the person filing for the
registration of Copyright may not necessarily be the owner. In certain
situations where the Author issues a ‘No Objection Certificate’ specifying that
they have no objection with the applicant owning the Copyright, an individual
other than the creator can lawfully hold the copyright.
Along with the application form, the
individual must attach the Statement of
Particulars
which includes details about the creation (the type of work, the language of
work, whether the work is published or unpublished) and the creator
(nationality, nature of interest in the work and whether they are alive or
deceased).
Following this, the Registrar of
Copyrights will hold your application for a period of 30 days, anticipating any
objections to the claim. In the case where there are any objections raised, the
applicant is given 45 days to correct any claims. If there are no reservations,
the Registrar will register the Copyright and the particulars of the work for
any future reference. 2014 onwards, individuals have also had the choice of
registering for a copyright online on the Government of India website for Copyrights.[3]
What remedies are available in a situation of Copyright
Infringement?
Once a Copyright is in place, the
duration of its effect is the lifetime of the owner and an added 60 years after
their death. During this period, if any person uses (for profit) or reproduces
the work of the artist or author, the same is referred to as a Copyright
Infringement.
In a situation of Copyright
Infringement, the individual has many available remedies, all of which can be
used for a period of 3 years following the infringement. This 3 year period is
also referred to as the Limitation Period for availing the remedies. The
remedies available in the situation of copyright infringement are (a) Civil
Remedies and (b) Criminal Remedies.
Section 55 of the Indian Copyright
Act explains the Civil Remedies available to the owner of Copyright. In the
situation that the infringer was unaware that copyright subsisted, the main
remedy available is Injunction. An injunction is a civil remedy in which the
court issues an authoritative order prohibiting someone from continuing any act
and restoring all parties involved to the state prior to the act. Here, the
infringer would be required to stop the use/reproduction of the copyrighted
item.
Additionally, as per Section 55(1),
the infringer would need to make good to the holder of Copyright, any damages
(compensatory money) owed. These damages are usually calculated as per what the
court deems fit taking into account factors such as profits earned by the
infringer, loss of profit to the Copyright holder, any loss in reputation, etc.
In the case of situations where the infringer was aware of the copyright, in addition to the civil remedies, criminal remedies are available. Any person who knowingly infringes or abets infringement is said to have committed an offence as per Section 63 of the Copyright Act. The punishment for the same is a term of 6 months (extendable to 3 years) along with a fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees but may extend to two lakh rupees.
---
Anushka Gupta is a 2nd year law student at National Law University, Delhi. Her interests lie in Psychology, Economics, Philosophy and any other subject that uncovers a hidden side of the world. On most days, you’d find her listening to a podcast or playing the Ukulele. While eager to explore all fields in law, her inclinations are towards Jurisprudence, Corporate Law and Criminal Law at the moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment