This document discusses copyright law in India. It explains that copyright protects original creative works and gives the creator the exclusive right to copy and distribute their work. The Copyright Act of 1957, which has been amended several times, governs copyright in India. It provides protection for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, films, and more recently, computer programs and digital content. Copyright arises automatically when a work is created and can last for the creator's lifetime plus 60 years. Infringement of copyright can result in civil and criminal penalties. The document outlines the scope of copyright protection as well as exceptions and exemptions to copyright law.

1. COPYRIGHT
By – Anand Prabhudesai

2. Introduction
 Copyright is basically about the right to Copy.
 In India, the law on copyright protection is contained in
the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 – which came into effect
in January 1958.
 This Act has been amended 5 times since then i.e.. In
1983, 1984,1992, 1994, 1999 & 2012.
 The Copyright ( Amendment ) Act 2012 is the most
substantial, bringing the digital environment into its
purview.

3. Introduction
 Copyright is based on the notion that a person who creates or
produces creative work, has a right to decide how the fruit of his
talent, skill & labor should be reproduced. Without this protection,
nobody would be encouraged to be creative.
 Earlier, this was relevant mainly to the publishing business, film
industry & music industry. But with the advent of the IT revolution
the copyright law has found new application in protecting computer
programs, software & content put up on the internet.
 Copyrighting is always in favor of the creator of the work. A
copyright arises the moment a person creates a work. Registration
of copyright is not necessary. However the act provides for the
mechanism for registration of copyright, which is useful as it serves
as ready evidence of copyright in favor of the holder.
 The Act prohibits the copying or reproduction of copyrighted
material. The copyright holder can prosecute a person making
unauthorized use & can claim damages and compensation.

4. Scope of Copyright
 Copyright is available for a wide range of expressions – Literary,
Dramatic, Musical, Artistic Works, Film industry.
 Literary - includes books, novels, newspaper articles, magazines &
journals, instruction manuals.
 Dramatic - includes recitation, acting out of any literary work or an
arrangement of scene, choreographic works & dumb shows.
 Musical – includes original music work & a particular combination of
melody & harmony.
 Artistic – includes painting, sculptures, photographs, drawing,
diagrammatic representation of a map or chart.
 Film – includes motion pictures, television shows, television
recordings of events, documentaries

5. Scope of Copyright
 The Act was amended in 1995, as a part of the commitment under
the GATT, to include computer programs, tables & compilations
including data bases in the definition of literary works. Here the
scope of computer programs is quite broad.
 The first important requirement is that the Work should be
ORIGINAL. What is original? A writer does not invent a language,
he uses it. A musician does not invent notes & scales, he uses it
which he has learnt from others in training. Thus our ‘creativity’ is
only an expression of what we have copied from others during
socialization.
 So the law resolves the question of originality within this bound – by
asking or checking whether a substantial investment of time, labor
& capital has been done by the author!!

6. Scope of Copyright
 Co p y rig ht is no t re la te d to Id e a s but to the ir Ex p re s s io n
 For e.g. – a novelist comes up with a plot in which he an
international passenger at an airport gets stranded without any
proof of nationality. This is only an Idea; which has to be expressed
in a tangible form in sentences, paragraphs, chapters like in the
form of a novel. Copyright is given over this material form of
expression. Nobody should copy this material expression.
 Thus a person who copies some paragraphs or lines from this novel
for his own essay titled ‘ Shopping at International Airports’ has not
copied the idea from the novelist. Yet it is a case of copyright
violation as he has copied from its material expression.
 On the other hand a person who takes the Idea and narrates it
differently has copied the Idea. Yet he has not violated copyright as
the texts are entirely different.

7. Rights of Copyright Owner
 A copyright is essentially a right to prohibit copying of work. The Act
lists certain activities which cannot be done in relation to the
different categories of copyrighted work. They are as follows –
1. To reproduce the work in any material form including its storing
in an electronic medium.
2. To publish the work
3. To perform the work in public
4. To make any film or record in respect of copyrighted work
5. To make any translation or adaptation of the work.
 In relation to films & records, it gives exclusive rights to the owner to
make copies of the film & communicate the film to the public by
broadcasting means.
 In relation to Computer Software it gives exclusive rights to sell or
give on rental any copy of computer program.

8. Rights of Copyright Owner
 In the 1995 Amendment, Broadcasting Reproduction Rights were
added which are as follows:
1. No one can re-broadcast a Broadcast. For e.g. if Doordarshan
is broadcasting a cricket match, no other channel can take the
feed and broadcast it without license from the owner
( Doordarshan Network )
2. No person can make a recording of a Broadcast, other than for
private use, or for teaching & research.
3. No person can sell or hire a Broadcast without a license from
the owner.
 The only exception to the above is the use of excerpts of a
broadcast in the reporting of current events or for review, teaching
& research.

9. Rights of Copyright Owner
 As the law is applicable to India, a copyright arises under the Act in
following cases:
1. The work is first published in India
2. The work is first published outside India, but the author is a citizen
of India.
3. In case of unpublished work, the author is, at the date of making the
work, a citizen of India or domiciled in India
4. In case of an architectural work of art, the work is located in India.
 Period of Copyright –
 On one hand, creator should enjoy fruits of his creativity, on the other
the society as a whole should benefit from the creation of new ideas &
expressions. Balancing the 2 claims, Copyright protection is available
on for limited no. of years.
 For authors it is for lifetime and 60 years from their death. For other
creative works like films, music, art, drama it is for 60 years

10. Copyright Infringement
 The Act brings several other persons in its fold in addition to the
person copying the work. Thus the owner of a hall who lets out his
place for the viewing of a CD that is pirated, knowing the CD to be
pirated, also infringes the Act.
 Any person who commercially deals in, by selling, hiring or
importing, any work which is an infringement of copyright, is also a
violator of the law. So all persons selling pirated videos/films/music
CD’s get covered by this law.
 The Act provides for civil as well as criminal liability.
 An owner can initiate a civil suit against the infringing person in a
district court within whose jurisdiction the owner resides or where
the cause of action arose.
 An owner can initiate a criminal prosecution as well. The
imprisonment term is for a term not less than 6 months extending
up to 3 years, in addition to a fine of not less than Rs 50,000/-
extending up to Rs 2 Lakh.

11. Copyright Infringement
 Under new provision introduced in 1995, even a person using a
computer program, knowing that the program infringes a copyright,
will be punishable imprisonment not less than 7 days extending to 3
years & a fine not less than Rs 50,000/- extending to Rs 2 Lakh.
 Police officers of rank sub-inspector & above have wide powers to
search and seize any work infringing copyrights.

12. Exemptions from Copyright Violations
 The enjoyment of every property is subject to restrictions imposed
by the State. The Act exempts several activities from the obligations
of copyright violation.
 In relation to literary work –
• A fair dealing with literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work for
purpose of private use, research, criticism or review, reporting
current events in a
newspaper/magazine/broadcast/cinematographic film/still
photographs.
• Reproduction of work for the purpose of the Sate or functioning
of law, for e.g. judicial or legislative proceedings.
• Reading or recitation in public from a published literary or
dramatic work.
• Publication of short passages of such works for educational
purposes – by a teacher or pupil in the course of instruction.
• Making of up to 3 copies of a book for a public library, if such
book is not available for reading/sale in India.

13. Exemptions from Copyright Violations
• Reproduction of an article on current economical, political, social
or religious matters in newspapers, magazines etc unless the
author has expressly reserved this right to himself.
• Reproduction or publication of any matter published in official
Gazettes, including Acts enacted by the Parliament or State
Legislature. In the case of reproduction of Acts, all commentaries
& other original matter also have to be published.
• Reproduction or publication of any committee, commission,
council appointed by the legislature, unless the government has
prohibited it.
• Reproduction or publication of any judgment or order of a court,
tribunal or other judicial authority, unless it has been prohibited
by the court.

14. Exemptions from Copyright Violations
 In relation to computer related copyrights –
• Making of copies or adaptations of computer programs for
utilizing it.
• Making of a copy to protect against the loss of the original.
• The observation, study or test of functioning of the computer
program, to determine the ideas & principles that underline any
element of the program, while performing such acts that are
necessary for the functions for which the computer program was
supplied..
• The making of copies or adaptations of the computer program
from a personally legally obtained copy, for non-commercial
personal use.

15. Registration of a Copyright
 A person does not have to register his work to become the owner.
But registration is useful if a dispute arises in relation to an
infringement of a copyright. A certificate of Registration becomes a
crucial prima-facie evidence before a court about the ownership of
the material.
 For registration, the office of the Registrar of Copyrights has been
created.
 It is maintained in the Copyright office of the Department of
Education. The register contains 6 parts as under –
• Part 1 - Literary works other than Computer Programs.
• Part 2 – Musical Works
• Part 3 – Artistic Works
• Part 4 – Cinematograph Films
• Part 5 – Sound Recording
• Part 6 – Computer Programs, tables & compilations, including
databases

16. Copyright
THANK YOU
 Anand Prabhudesai
 Weekday Batch – MBA (EE) 2014 (SIMS – Pune)
So urc e – Le g a l As p e c ts o f Bus ine s s by
Akhile shwa r Pa tha k