The Copyright Act of 1957 governs copyright law in India and is compliant with international treaties. The Act protects literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, films, and sound recordings. Copyright assigns exclusive rights to the creator of an original work and lasts for the creator's lifetime plus 60 years for most works. The rights are assignable through written agreements. Fair use provisions allow limited copyrighted content use for research, review, and more.

2.  The Copyright Act, 1957(Act No. 14 of 1957) governs the laws &
applicable rules related to the subject of copyrights in India.
Copyright Law in the country was governed by the Copyright Act
of 1914, was essentially the extension of the British Copyright
Act, 1911 to India,and borrowed extensively from the new
Copyright Act of the United Kingdom of 1956.
 All copyright related laws are governed by the Copyright Act,
1957The Copyright Act today is compliant with most
international conventions and treaties in the field of copyrights.
India is a member of the Berne Convention of 1886 (as modified
at Paris in 1971), the Universal Copyright Convention of 1951 and
the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of 1995

3. Copyright
Copyright is a right given by the law to the creators of
literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and
producers of cinematograph films and sound
recordings. In fact, it is a bundle of rights including,
inter alia, rights of reproduction, communication to
the public, adaptation and translation of the work.
There could be slight variations in the composition of
the rights depending on the work.

4. Indian work
 "Indian work" means a literary, dramatic or musical
work,
 The author of which is a citizen of India; or
 Which is first published in India; or
 The author of which, in the case of an unpublished
work is, at the time of the making of the work, a
citizen of India.

5. Descriptions of work
 Artistic work - An artistic work means A painting, a
sculpture, a drawing (including a diagram, map, chart
or plan), an engraving or a photograph, whether or not
any such work possesses artistic quality;
 A work of architecture; and
 Any other work of artistic craftsmanship.

6.  Musical work "Musical work" means a work consisting of
music and includes any graphical notation of such work
but does not include any words or any action intended to
be sung, spoken or performed with the music. A musical
work need not be written down to enjoy copyright
protection.
 Sound recording "Sound recording" means a recording of
sounds from which sounds may be produced regardless of
the medium on which such recording is made or the
method by which the sounds are produced. A phonogram
and a CD-ROM are sound recordings.

7.  Cinematograph film "Cinematograph film" means any
work of visual recording on any medium produced through
a process from which a moving image may be produced by
any means and includes a sound recording accompanying
such visual recording and "cinematograph" shall be
construed as including any work produced by any process
analogous to cinematography including video films.
 Government work - "Government work" means a work
which is made or published by or under the direction or
control of The government or any department of the
government
 Any legislature in India, and
 Any court, tribunal or other judicial authority in India.

8. An author
 In the case of a literary or dramatic work the author,
i.e., the person who creates the work
 In the case of a musical work

9. Duration of copyright
Literary
Dramatic,
Musical and
Artistic works
Photographs
lifetime of the author + sixty
years from the beginning of the
calendar year next following the year
in which the author dies
Anonymous and
pseudonymous works
Posthumous work
Cinematograph films
Sound records
Government work
Public undertakings
International Agencies
Until sixty years from the beginning of
the calendar years next following the
year in which the work is first
published .

10. Assignment of copyright
 The author of a work is the first owner of the copyright( Section
17).However, for works made in the course of an author's
employment under a contract of service, the employer is the first
owner of the copyright.
 The owner of the copyright in an existing work or the prospective
owner of the copyright in a future work may assign to any person
the copyright either wholly or partially and either generally or
subject to limitations and either for the whole term of the
copyright or any part thereof: Provided that in the case of the
assignment of copyright in any future work, the assignment shall
take effect only when the work comes into existence (Section 18)
 Section 19 lays down the modes of assignment- assignment can
only be in writing and must specify the work, the period of
assignment and the territory.
 Section 19(5) provides that if period of assignment is not
specified it shall be deemed to be 5 years and section 19(6)
provides that if the territorial extent of assignment is not
specified it shall be presumed to extend within India.

11. Rights of Broadcasting Organisation
and of Performers
 Broadcast reproduction right
The broadcast reproduction right shall subsist until
twenty-five years from the beginning of the calendar
year next following the year in which the broadcast is
made.
 Performer’s right
The performer's right shall subsist until twenty five
years from the beginning of the calendar year next
following the year in which the performance is made.

12. Fair dealing
 A fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical or
artistic work (not being a computer programme) for
the purposes of
 for the purpose of research or private study,
 for criticism or review,
 for reporting current events,
 in connection with judicial proceeding,
 performance by an amateur club or society if the
performance is given to a non-paying audience, and .
 the making of sound recordings of literary, dramatic or
musical works under certain conditions

13. Government works
 Although Government works are copyrighted, the
reproduction or publication of following works not
copy protected.
 Act of a Legislature.
 Report of a committee, commission, council, board or
other like body appointed by the Government.
 Judgment or order of a court, tribunal or other judicial
authority

14. Civil liability
 Copyright infringement is punishable under Section 63 of the
Copyright Act:
 Offence of infringement of copyright or other rights conferred by
this Act.
 Any person who knowingly infringes or abets the infringement of-
 (a) the copyright in a work, or
 (b) any other right conferred by this Act, shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but
which may extend to three years and with fine which shall not be less
than fifty thousand rupees but which may extend to two lakh rupees:
 Provided that the court may, for adequate and special reasons to be
mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a
term of less than six months or a fine of less than fifty thousand rupees.
 Explanation.- Construction of a building or other structure which
infringes or which, if completed, would infringe the copyright in some
other work shall not be an offence under this section.