Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Table of Contents
Particulars Page Number
1. Introduction 1
5. Object of Copyright 4
13.Conclusion 23-24
14.Bibliography 25
1
Introduction
The scope of intellectual property is expanding very fast and attempts are
being made by persons who create new creative ideas to seek protection under
property the importance of which has increased enormously in recent times due
In India the first Copyright Act was passed in 1914. It was a replica of
the English Copyright Act of 1911. The Act, presently in force was legislated
Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1999. Consequent upon India signing the GATT
and entering the global market economy, a number of changes have been made
in the Copyright Act of 1957 by the Amending Act of 1999, to give effect to
the obligations arising from the signing of the GATT and to make Indian Law
Meaning of Copyright
The word ‘copyright’ is derived from the expression ‘copier of words’
1
Intellectual Property Law, P Narayanan, Chapter 29, Pg251.
2
Copy right according to Black’s Law Dictionary is the right in literary
production whereby he is invested for a specific period with the sole and
selling them”.
right given by law for a certain term of years to an author, composer etc., (or
his assignee) to print, publish and sell copies of his original work’.
Definition of Copyright
The statutory definition of copyright is as follows2
2) Artistic works;
4) Sound recordings.
The various acts for which copyright extends is listed in section 14 of the
Act. Copyright does not extend to any right beyond the scope of section 14.
The exclusive right for doing the respective acts extends not only to the whole
2
Section 14 of the Copyright Act,1957
3
of the work but to any substantial part thereof or to any translation or
Characteristics of Copyright3
a) Creation of a statute
which the right is granted is the result of utilization and investment of intellect.
c) Monopoly right :
that right which has been conferred on the owner of copyright under the
d) Negative right :
e) Multiple rights :
3
Intellectual Property Law, B.L Wadhera, Chapter 30, Pg 282
4
Copyright is not a single right. It consists of a bundle of different rights
in the same work. For instance, in case of a literary work copyright comprises
the right of reproduction in hard back and paper back editions, the right of
f) Neighbouring rights
consists of the right to works derived from the original works; rights like the
right of public performance, or the broadcasting rights. Such related rights are
Object of Copyright4
The object of copyright law is to encourage, authors, composers, artists
and designers to create original works by rewarding them with the exclusive
right for a specified period to reproduce the works for publishing and selling
them to public. It is thus the exclusive right for a limited period to exploit the
work for monetary gain. The economic exploitation is done by licensing such
monetary consideration.
4
Ibid, Pg 283
5
Nature and scope of Copyright
The law does not permit one to appropriate to himself what has been
produced by the labour, skill and capital of another. This is the very foundation
of copyright law. The object of the copyright law is to protect the author of the
others.
etc., to whom the owner of copyright assigns or licenses the particular rights.
If the entrepreneur is to recover the capital invested and earn profits he has to
reproduce the work at a fraction of the original cost of production and undersell
the producer.
the printing. Press in the 15th century which enabled reproduction of books in
or any similar right in any work except those provided under the copyright act.
It is a negative right where the author of the original work is protected from the
to prevent others, from exercising without authority any other form of right
6
copyright extends to the making of a dramatic or cinematographic version of
material form in which the ideas are expressed. Thus it is not an infringement
of copyright to adopt the ideas of another. Also there is nothing in the notion
independent process.
form to which the ideas are translated. In the field of literary work the words
chosen by the author to express his ideas are peculiar to himself and no two
descriptions of the same idea or fact can be in the same words, just as no two
answers written by two different individuals to the same question can be the
same. The order and arrangement of each man’s words is as singular as his
is, protected. The above ratio was said down in Jaffroys v. Boorey.6
must have bestowed upon the work “sufficient judgement, skill and labour or
6
(1854) 4 HLC 815
7
inaccurate, or whether it has or has not any literary merit as laid down in
Walter v. Lane.7
independently and their work is ‘original’. The above ratio was laid down in
Ravencraft v. Herbert8.
programmes of sporting events and news events. This is subject to the special
owner of the copyright depends upon the nature of the work. But one feature
and the ‘right to publication’. The owner of a copyright may exploit the work
himself or license others to exploit any one or more of the rights for a
7
(1990) AC 539
8
(1980) RPC 103
9
Supra n. 1, Chapter 30, Pg 256
8
In the case of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (other than a
subsists during the lifetime of the author plus sixty years. In case of joint
authorship the sixty years period will start after the death of the author who
sixty years from the year of publication. Where the first owner of copyright is
c) Sound recording.
9
original work and can be subject of copyright. An abridgement is entitled to
head notes of law reports containing in clear and concise language, the
principles of law deduced from the court decision are original literary works
commercial letters and government letters as they are original literary works.
dictionaries because they are compilations which are included in the definition
of literary work.
general rule, titles of books or literary articles are not protected under copyright
acting form of which is fixed in writing or otherwise but does not include a
cinematograph film.
10
Adaptation in relation to dramatic work means, 1) the conversion of the
work into a non-dramatic work, 2) the abridgement of the work in which the
must be reduced to writing usually in the form of some notation and notes.
musical work means a work consisting of music and includes any graphical
notation of such work, but does not include any word or any action, intended to
for piano. The remix songs are within the definition of adaptation of a musical
work.
written by one man and its music by another. These two copyrights are entirely
11
ii) a work of architecture and
artistic work must be original, i.e. it must originate from the author. In respect
possess any artistic quality. A work of architecture must however have artistic
apart from the copyright in the building. This is in contrast with engineering
drawings where the machines built on the basis of the drawings do not have a
otherwise. It has been held that prototype furniture does not qualify for
12
A cinematograph film is a work capable of acquiring copyright.
screen of many photographs taken successfully on a long film. For the purpose
The artists working in a film are not protected by copyright. Their rights are
sound recording means a recording of sounds from which such sounds may be
The author of the sound recording is the producer. Musical works and
for copyright. The copyright in the recording of the music is separate from the
copyright in the music. Copyright in the music vests in the composer and the
copyright in the music recorded vests in the producer of the sound recording.
13
Author and Ownership of Copyright
The concept of ‘author’ and ‘ownership’ are vital when the question of
propriety over the copyright arises. The originator of an idea is not the owner
of the copyright. According to section 17 the author of the work is the first
another person. In the first case the author is the owner of the copyright in the
work. Authors who write books or compose music come under this category.
In the second category, the person at whose instance the work is made is the
owner of the copyright work. In the case of the third category, the ownership
The author of a work depends upon the nature of the work. In the case
of literary or dramatic work the author of the work is the person who creates
artistic work the author is the artist. The author of a photograph is the person
who takes the photograph. In the case of a cinematograph film the author is the
producer of the film at the time of completion. The author of a sound recording
is the producer. In the case of any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work
which is computer – generated, the person who creates the work is the author.
14
In the case of literary, dramatic and artistic works where the work is
contrary, will be the first owner of the copyright. The copyright in a work done
by an employee on his own time and not in the course of his employment
outside India the author must be a citizen of India at the time of publication or
if dead at the time of death. In the case of unpublished work the author must be
the material object in which the copyright work is embodied. Thus a person
who buys a painting may be the owner of the canvas in which the painting is
drawn but the copyright in the work may vest in the artist who has drawn the
painting. Similarly when a person buys a book he is the owner of the book but
work for monetary benefit. Ordinarily he either assigns the whole or part of his
alternative he may license some or all of his rights to others usually on the
copyright or for any part thereof. It may be for a particular territory or country.
Sections 18, 19 and 19A of the Copyright Act deal with the assignment
manner:
2. The deed of assignment shall identify the work and specify the rights
should also specify the royalty payable to the author or his legal heirs, if
any.
3. If the assignee does not exercise the rights assigned to him within one
16
rights shall be deemed to have lapsed after the expiry of the said period
4. When the period of assignment is not stated, the period shall be deemed
can restrain the author from exercising those rights which have already been
works.
According to section 21, the author of a work may relinquish all or any
of the rights comprised in the copyright in the work by giving notice to the
Registrar of Copyright.
has an exclusive right to do. Licensing usually involves only some of the rights
and not the whole. Also unlike an assignment where the assignee becomes the
owner of the right assigned a licensee only gets the right to exercise particular
rights subject to the condition of the license and does not become the owner of
that right.
17
There is no prescribed form for a license deed. But it should be in
writing signed by the owner of the copyright or his duly authorized agent. The
license deed shall identify the work and specify the rights licensed and the
duration and territorial extent of such license. It must also specify the quantum
of royalty payable and the terms regarding revision, extension and termination
of the license. The provision of section 19 shall, with any necessary adaptation
photograph for a specified purpose may not require a license but only a
consent.
exclusion of all other persons including the owner of the copyright any right
the owner of the copyright retains, the right to grant licenses to more than one
18
from a sole license. In the case of a sole license the licensee can exclude all
payment of some royalty. When they are granted in the above manner they are
compulsory.
public.
works.
19
International Character of Copyright
character.
TRIPS which came into force from 1 January 1995. It lays down minimum
Part II of the TRIPS Agreement deals with the standards concerning the
10
Encyclopaedia of IPR, Dr Priyaranjan Trivedi, Vol VI, Preface.
20
regarding copyright and related rights. Article 9 says that members shall
comply with Articles 1-21 and the Appendix of the Berne Convention (1971)
and copyright shall extend only to expressions and not to ideas. Article 10
Article 11 says that a member shall provide authors of computer programs and
the date of publication, it shall not be less than 50 years from the end of the
India’s copyright law, laid down in the India Copyright Act, 1957 as
21
The Berne Convention for the protection of literary and Artistic Works
(1886) speaks of fair use (limitations and exceptions relating to different types
principles :
a) Works originating in one of the contracting state must be given the same
Protection).
interests and to prescribe measures for achieving it”11 The Rome Convention
11
Ibid , Vol III, Pg 33
22
Copyright laws in U.K., U.S. and India – A
Comparison
The subject matter of copyright is more or less similar in India, USA
law follows the Berne convention where protection goes only to the particular
the idea-expression dichotomy has been enacted in Section 102 of the statute
itself. It states that there is no copyright for an original work that extends to an
question of originality / creativity, where the work originates from the author
and is not a copied work, it gets protected under the UK and the Indian laws.
The US laws are more stringent on the originality aspect and expects a spark of
explicitly states that originality / creativity and fixation in tangible form are the
Recently the legal battle between Warner Bros and Mirchi Movies, the
caught the attention of the world media. The Delhi High Court dismissed the
suit filed by Warner Bros which contended that the film’s title sought to
confuse customers and benefit unfairly from the Harry Potter brand, the rights
to which the United States based entertainment behemoth owns for movies and
12
NLSIU, Pg 80-82.
23
merchandise. The paradox is that hugely successful series of Barry Trotter
books and other books like ‘Hairy Potter and the Marijuana Stone’ and ‘Hairy
Potty and the underwear of Justice’ have escaped litigation on similar grounds.
The answer to this paradox lies in western intellectual property law where the
with the Puttar film is that it bears no resemblance at all to the Potter Saga, and
therefore audience could confuse it with a Harry Patter film. The Delhi High
Court however rightly concluded that the audience in India and else where is
Conclusion
The Principle of copyright protection in India is “What is worth
work particularly in the computer industry. This has found recognition in the
1994 Amendment Act. Computer software piracy and video piracy is a world
increasing the scope of such infringement. Further certain special rights have
been introduced for the first time for the benefit of performers like musicians,
24
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Narayanan.P,
Intellectual Property Law,
25
Eastern Law House,
Third Edition,2007.
2. Priyaranjan Trivedi,
Encyclopaedia of IPR,
Volume III.
4. Wadhera B.L,
Law Relating toIntellectual Property,
Universal Law Publishing Company,
Fourth Edition 2007.
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