COPYRIGHT - AN INSIGHT & OVERV

06 October 2013

SOUMYA AHUJA
ADVOCATE & ATTORNEY
ATHREYA & ASSOCIATES, MUMBAI

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
RIGHTS
Creations

of the human intellect

Granted for the results of creative
activity

FORMS OF IP

COPYRIGHT & RELATED RIGHTS

INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

PATENTS
TRADEMARKS
INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
G.I.
TRADE SECRETS
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

WHAT IS A COPYRIGHT

An exclusive right
Granted to an author
Protects original works of
authorship
Fixed in any tangible
medium of expression

PURPOSE

Advancement of Knowledge
Balancing the rights of copyright
owners with the rights of the public
for access to and use of works

WHY PROTECT ??
To prevent unauthorized reproduction
of an authors work
Give the owner the exclusive right for
a limited period to authorize or prohibit
certain use of his work by others

SCOPE OF PROTECTION
Original work independently
created by authors
Does not protect any idea, procedure,
process, system, method of operation,
concept, principle or discovery Unless fixed or expressed in a
tangible form
Work must be the result of at least

COPYRIGHT - HISTORY

First

national law (1709)

FIRST INTERNATIONAL TREATY

(1886)
Berne

Convention for the

Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works (1886)

WHEN DOES A COPYRIGHT COME

INTO EXISTENCE

From the time the work is created in a

fixed, tangible
form of expression
Immediately becomes the property of the
author
who created the work

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

Automatic Protection
Registration not mandatory
Prima facie evidence in a court of law in
dispute
relating to ownership of copyright.
Registration invaluable to a copyright
holder who
wishes to take a civil or criminal action
against the

COPYRIGHT NOTICE - in absence

of registration
2013 Soumya Ahuja

INDIAN STATUTE ON COPYRIGHT

Principal Act:
The Copyright Act, 1957
&
The Copyright (Amendment )
Act, 2012

TYPES OF WORKS OF
AUTHORSHIP PROTECTED

Literary works
Musical works
Dramatic works
Pantomimes and choreographic works
Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
Sound recordings
Architectural works

Ownership of copyright
The

author or creator of the work is the

first owner of copyright

EXCEPTIONS TO OWNERSHIP

Literary, dramatic or artistic work made in the course of

employment
Photograph taken or painting drawn or cinematograph
film made for a valuable consideration
Work made under contract for service or apprenticeship
Lectures delivered in public
Government work
Work made on behalf of public undertaking
Works of certain international organizations

BASIC RIGHTS
Negative
to

right

stop others from exploiting

the work without the
copyright owners consent or
license

MORAL RIGHTS

The

right of publication.
The right of paternity.
The right of integrity.

ECONOMIC RIGHTS

Reproduction

Right.
Distribution Right.
Modification Right.
Public Performance Right.
Public Display Right.

DURATION OF COPYRIGHT

Varies according to the nature of the work

Whether the author is a natural person or a
legal person, e.g. a Corporation, Government
Institution, etc., or whether the work is
anonymous or pseudonymous

WORK IN PUBLIC DOMAIN

Works not eligible for copyright protection
Works that are either or no longer protected by copyright
E.G. PRIDE & PREJUDICE JANE AUSTEN PUBLISHED IN 1813

COPYRIGHT IN FOREIGN
WORKS
Provisions of this Act shall
apply to works published
and unpublished outside
the territory of India

WHAT AMOUNTS TO
INFRINGEMENT?
S. 51-Making infringing copies for sale or hire or selling or
letting them for hire;
-Permitting any place for the performance of works in public
where such performance constitutes infringement of
copyright;
-Distributing infringing copies for the purpose of trade or to
such an extent so as to affect prejudicially the interest of
the owner of copyright ;
-Public exhibition of infringing copies by way of trade; and
-Importation of infringing copies into India.-

Motives for engaging in

copyright infringement are the
following:
Pricing
Unavailability
Usefulness
Shopping

experience
Anonymity

REMEDIES
CIVIL

A. Injunction
B. Damages or Accounts of Profit.
C. Delivery of Infringing copies and
damages
for conversion.

 CRIMINAL
A. Imprisonment

of Accused.
B. B. Imposition of fine or both.
C. C. Seizure of Infringing copies and
delivery-up of infringing copies.

ACTS NOT AMOUNTING TO

INFRINGEMENT - FAIR USE
a fair deal for research, study, criticism, review and news
reporting, as well as use of works in library and schools and
in the legislatures, is permitted without specific permission
of the copyright owners. In order to protect the interests of
users, some exemptions have been prescribed in respect of
specific uses of works enjoying copyright. Some of the
exemptions are the uses of the work
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.

THE FOUR FACTORS

CONTRIBUTING FAIR USE
Character of the Use
Nature of the Material to be Copied
Amount and Importance of the Part
Copied
Effect on Market for Permissions

SCOPE OF FAIR USE

Making copies of copyrighted works
Making derivative works (for example,
digitizing charts, graphs, illustrations, slides)
Distributing works, including electronic
distribution
Displaying and performing works publicly

Delhi HC's Ruling on the 'Guiding

Principle' of Public Domain & Fa
this case, titled
irInSyndicate
Use
of the Press of the University of Cambridge (Appellants) v. B.D. Bhandari &

Ors.
(Respondents), The Appellants had alleged that the Respondents were publishing
and selling guidebooks that contained illegal and unauthorized reproduction of the
grammar exercises and keys from one of the Appellants leading publications
This publication, titled Advance English Grammar, was also followed in Guru Nanak
Dev University, Amritsar
However, a Single Judge Bench of Delhi High Court had dismissed this allegation,
holding that there was no originality or invention displayed in composing grammar
sentences or exercises and hence the Appellants work did not constitute original
literary, dramatic, or artistic works and hence the Appeal.
The Appeal bench affirmed the Single Judges decision that the Respondents book
cannot be considered to be infringing the copyright of the Appellant and dismissed
the appeal on the following grounds :

that the guidebook was held to be containing sufficient additional material apart
from the Appellants work;
there were also other differences in terms of pricing and the nature of the customers
likely to buy these two different books in terms of literary sophistication.

Contd.

the Respondent claimed his book to be the same as the Appellants.

Besides, an overall comparison of the two books would, according to

the Court, reveal sufficient differences as not to consider one to be
plagiarized from or infringing the copyright of the other.

OTHER COMMON OFFENCES

Plagiarism

Complete entire copying

Copy & paste Internet and
electronic journals
Word Switch- copy the whole
sentence and change a few
words
Self no reference to your
own prior work re-used in an
assignment

Major Amendments in the

1957 Copyright Act

PLAGIARISM

COPYRIGHT PIRACY

PIRACY:
Cinematograph

Film
Sound Recording
Computer Software
Literary Works
Performers

LEGAL REPLY TO PIRACY

Section

64 of the Indian Copyright Act

THE JOHN DOE ORDER

Delhi High Court granted Reliance Entertainment a 'John Doe Order' to prevent
the illegal broadcast or streaming of its upcoming film, 'Bodyguard',
Order restrains websites, cable operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
and others from infringing or violating Reliance's copyright by illegally showing
the movie

Order gives protection to the intellectual property owner, Reliance Entertainment,

from copyright violation by prospective anonymous offenders.

Enables an IP owner to serve the notice and take action at the same time against
anyone who is found to indulge into infringing the copyright of the movie
The name 'John Doe' is used as a placeholder in a legal action or case for any
person whose true identity is unknown- in this instance, a potential pirate
interested in illegally downloading or sharing prints of the film for which the order
has been obtained
Similar order was granted to the producers of the movie Singham, who claim that
it helped curb piracy by 33%

RELATED RIGHTS:

Performers
Producers

of Phonograms
Broadcasting organizations

Pro-open culture organization

Free

Software Foundation(FSF)
Creative Commons(CC)

Free Software Foundation

non-profit

organizationfounded
by
Richard Stallman
promotes the universal freedom to create,
distribute and modifycomputer software
software being distributed undercopyleft
("share alike") termssuch as with its own
GNU General Public License

CREATIVE COMMONS

A nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of

creativity and knowledge through free legal tools.
Their free, easy-to-usecopyright licenses provide a simple,
standardized way to give the public permission to share and use
their creative work on conditions set out by the Owners of the
work
CC licenses let easily change the copyright terms from the default
of all rights reserved to some rights reserved.
Creative Commons licenses are not an alternative to
copyright.They work alongside copyrightand enable the Copyright
Owner to modify the copyright terms to best suit their needs.

ACTIVITIES
released

several copyright licenses

known as Creative Common Licenses
licenses allow creators to easily
communicate which rights they
reserve, and which rights they waive for
the benefit of other creators

AIM
enable

copyright holders to grant some

or all of their rights to the public
Retaining others through a variety of
licensing and contract schemes
dedicating to the public domain or open
content licensing terms
To avoid the problems current copyright
laws create for the sharing of
information.

Creative Commons Licensing

Success Stories: Pratham Books

Pratham Books, a non-profit childrens book publishing house

Persistent campaigns for openness and unrestricted access to content suitable
for childrens books, by advocating the use of Creative Commons licenses
Pratham Books began with aCC Attribution-Non commercial-Share Alike2.5
India license
Over the years, moved towards the more openCC BYandCC BY-SAlicenses
former license prevents the content from being used for commercial purposes,
the CC BY and CC BY-SA have no such restrictions
the use of the Creative Commons licenses has allowed Pratham Books to realise
most of its objectives
the growing community of participants who are willing to collaborate and
embrace the philosophy of openness
severely undermining the hitherto unchallenged belief that the traditional
copyright model that involves frequent negotiations and high transaction costs
Encouraging derivative works being produced in the nature of iPad and iPhone
applications, new books with colorful illustrations and books specifically designed
for the print impaired
Confirms the view and belief that certainly this license can be considered a viable
alternative in the publishing industry

COPYRIGHT SOCIETIES
Collective

administration of copyright
by societies is a concept where
management and protection of
copyright in works are undertook by a
society of owners of such works

FUNCTIONS OF A SOCIETY
Conditions

subject to which a copyright

society may issue licences, collect fees
and
distribute such fees
Administration of rights of owner by
copyright society
Payment of remuneration by copyright
society

REGISTERED COPYRIGHT
SOCIETIES IN INDIA

Society for Copyright Regulations of Indian

Producers of Films & Television (SCRIPT) for
cinematography films
Indian Performing Rights Society Limited
(IPRS) for musical works
Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) for
sound recordings.
IRRO (The Indian Reprographic Rights
Organisation)

IRRO

issue or grant Licences, in respect of any

Literary Work in which copyright subsists, for
reproduction (with Limitations), on behalf of
Rightsholders i.e. Owner of Copyright of any
Literary Work i.e. Authors, Publishers, etc.
License is mandatory for All Government as well
as
Private
institutions/
organizations,
Companies, Educational Institutions, Libraries,
Photocopy Shops and others who do not come
under fair uses of the Copyright Act, 1957.

RESTRICTIONS ON PHOTOCOPYING,
SCANNING AND USE OF DIGITAL
COPIES (i.e. Limitations of IRRO
License)

The licensee must own an original and/or copyright fee-paid of any Licensed Material it copies or
scans under the terms and conditions of the license.
Licensee can make no more than 20 copies and not copy more than 10% or 1 chapter of any
publication per year whichever is the greater.
This license does not authorize any copying, dissemination, publication, communication or making
available to the public, selling repackaging or distribution, in any form, of Digital Copies beyond
the terms contained herein.
Digital Copies may not be placed on the publicly accessible World Wide Web or be linked to either
directly or indirectly by hypertext links (or the like) to any external or third party website.
Licensed copies may not be made or used for the delivery of education or training of any third
parties of the licensee but may be made and used for the training of the authorized persons
provided that the licensee shall not receive as consideration or any other form of remuneration.
The licensee shall not edit, manipulate, add or delete from Digital Copies nor shall it authorize to
do such act.
Where any work (including artistic work) appearing within Digital Material or Material Licensed for
Scanning incorporates, or has adjacent to it, the identity of the author or creator of the work, not
Digital Copies shall be made unless the copies incorporates the identity of such author or creator.