SARTHAK GUPTA sarthak18079

INDIAN LAW INSTITUTE (Deemed University)

Assignment 2: Copyrights

Question 1:

What is licensing and assignment of copyright?

Answer: A transfer of copyright rights is usually either an assignment or a license. An assignment of copyright is like the sale of personal property. The original owner sells its rights to a third party, and can no longer exercise control over how the third party uses those rights. A license is an agreement where the copyright owner maintains its ownership of the rights involved, but allows a third party to exercise some or all of those rights without fear of a copyright infringement suit. The licenses may be exclusive or non exclusive.

Question 2: Explain the concept of ownership and authorship under Indian Copyright Act, 1957? Answer: Copyright protects the rights of authors. Acquiring copyright ownership is defined under Section 17 of the Act. The right of ownership is available only if one qualifies the provision of this Act. The ownership

maybe assigned to any person the copyright. Section 17 statutorily recognizes the author of the work to be the first owner of the copyright. The author is defined under the Act for various works, which come under the law of copyright. Authors are generally creators of intellectual property in the form of literary, musical, dramatic and artistic works and cinematograph films and sound recordings.

Question 3: Discuss the liability of Internet Service Providers (ISP) for Copyright Infringement. Answer: ISPs can be found liable for copyright infringement even if they arent directly engaged in the copying of protected materials. ISP must be aware of Copyright Act. So party can be held liable for infringement even if they dont directly take part in distribution of work. Party may be guilty of copyright infringement when they cause infringing conduct of another with knowledge of other party's infringing activities. Person may be liable for the infringing actions of another if person has the right and ability to control infringer's acts and receives direct financial benefit from the infringement.

Question 4: What are the international legal instruments governing the protection of copyright? Answer:

The major treaties governing the protection of copyright are:

The Berne Convention : The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works was established in 1886 in Berne, Switzerland. The treaty is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Universal Copyright Convention (U.C.C.): The Universal Copyright Convention was originally written in 1952 in Geneva. It became effective in 1955. The U.C.C. is administered by UNESCO, a United Nations agency.

Question 5: Explain the meaning of Neighbouring Rights under the Copyright Act, 1957. Answer: The copyright law protects the intellectual creations in original works. Copyright protection commences as work is created and it doesnt require any registration formalities. Traditionally it was limited to books, music, paintings or films. It extends to even computer software and compilations of data. These are known as related rights or neighbouring rights. These rights protect persons, other than the creators, who are involved in dissemination of copyrighted work. These rights are confined to three specific categories of persons: performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations.