An Overview of Copyright in India

There are various branches of intellectual property, ranging from patents to trademarks to copyright. As an intellectual property right, the concept of copyright gives creators (also known as authors) of literary, artistic, musical, dramatic, cinematograph films and sound recordings some exclusive rights guaranteed under the law. These exclusive rights include the right to distribution, communication, adaptation, and reproduction. The idea behind copyright is to promote creativity while focusing on protecting rights.

The British empire is responsible for the development of copyright law in India. During the colonial era, the United Kingdom Copyright Act of 1911 was applied in India as the Indian Copyright Act of 1914. Presently, the 1914 act in India still applies to works created before the 21st of January 1958.

When dealing with copyright, emphasis is placed on protecting the expression of ideas, knowledge, or concepts; it does not protect the ideas, knowledge, or concepts alone. This means that one must take steps to express their ideas; if not, such ideas will not be eligible for copyright protection under the law.

In India, copyright owners’ right is guaranteed by The Copyright Act of 1957. Section 13 of the Copyright Act of 1957 states the types of works entitled to this protection, for example, literary and artistic works, while section 14 states the types of exclusive rights an owner is entitled to.

In addition, the act also expresses that works entitled to protection must be original; this means that owners must create works that have not been created by anyone else. The Copyright Act of 1957 offers further protection for rights owners in two forms: economic and moral rights.

Economic rights are the rights contained in section 14 of the Copyright Act of 1957, exclusive to the owner in connection with the said work. These rights include the author’s right to perform a work in public, deal with reproduction and distribution, make sound recordings or cinematograph films, or deal with the translation or adaptation of such work. If an individual who is not a copyright owner executes any of these exclusive rights belonging to the owner, such a person would be liable for copyright infringement.

On the other hand, moral rights are guaranteed by section 57 of the Copyright Act of 1957. They are made up of the right of paternity and the right of integrity. The right of paternity is the right to authorship in works created. In contrast, the right to integrity is a right that protects the reputation and honour of the author and empowers the prevention of mutilation or distortion of the work created.

Furthermore, an author is not obliged to register their work under the Copyright Act. Their work is still entitled to copyright protection; however, registration often offers some added benefits.
Additionally, India is a signatory to The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886, which emphasises equal protection of works created in India and outside India as long as it was created in a state that is also a signatory to the Berne Convention.

Likewise, regarding duration, artistic, musical, literary, and dramatic works have a copyright duration of 60 years after the author’s death; in the case of multiple authors, 60 years after the death of the last author. For cinematograph films and sound recordings, copyright protection lasts 60 years from the publication date of such works. While sound recordings are valid 60 years from the end of the year, the sound was first published.

In conclusion, copyright enables right owners to exercise exclusive rights regarding their creations. In that case, when non-right owners infringe on the works of copyright owners, they will be liable in a case of infringement.