Indian copyright law is governed by the Indian Copyright Act, 1957. Copyright Law in the country was governed by the Copyright Act of 1914,which 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. Now Indian Copyright is governed by the Indian Copyright Act, 1957.[1]
The Indian 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.
Though India is not a member of the Rome Convention of 1961, WIPO Copyrights Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT),the Copyright Act is compliant with it.[2]
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Copyright is a right given by the law to 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.
"Indian work" means a literary, dramatic or musical work,
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sixty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies. |
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sixty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the work is first published. |
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. In a recent judgement, a division bench of the Delhi High Court in Pine Labs Private Limited vs Gemalto Terminals India Limited the Court has held that in case the duration of assignment is not specified, the duration shall be deemed to be five years and after five years the copyright shall revert to the author. In this case, Pine Labs had written some software for Gemalto under a Master Service Agreement(MSA).Though in the MSA Pine Labs had assigned the copyright in the works to Gemalto, the period of assignment was not specified.The Court held that though Gemalto may have paid for the software, Pine Labs, being the author was the first owner of the copyright and after five years, the copyright reverted to Pine Labs. It made no difference whetehr the MSA was treated as an assignment or an agreement to assign. Full text of the judgement can be viewed at Pine Labs Vs Gemalto and others
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.
The performer's right shall subsist until fifty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the performance is made.
A fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (not being a computer programme) for the purposes of
Although Government works are copyrighted, the reproduction or publication of following works not copy protected.
Copyright infringement is punishable under § 63 of the Copyright Act:
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