Copyright in India: A Comprehensive Guide to Protection and Registration

A Brief Overview

Property comes in a variety of forms, including physical, immovable, and mobile. In addition to actual assets, property also refers to intangible. Since every individual or organization has rights over their tangible/physical property, what about intangible property? Intangible property is a nonphysical asset and includes Patent, Copyright, Trademark, Design and others. Copyright, one of the significant forms of intellectual property is covered in detail herein below.

What is copyright?

Copyright is a legal right provided by the law to the creators of original work in the areas of literature, drama, music, art, etc. Copyright is one of the forms of Intellectual Property that provides an exclusive right to the holders and original creators. This includes a bundle of rights including the ability to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative (expression) works, to distribute copies, and to perform and display the work publicly. With a registered copyright, your work is legally protected and cannot be used arbitrarily or without permission.

In India, Copyright is regulated under the Copyright Act, 1957 and Copyright Rules 1958.

What can be Copyrighted or what not?

• Original literary work: An original or unique creation of literature, like a work of fiction, technical books or papers, biography, dramatics, thesis, script, research work, computer programs, etc.
   
• Dramatic work: Any piece for recitation, choreographic work or entertainment in a show, the scenic arrangement or acting, form of which is fixed in writing but does not include cinematography films.
   
• Musical Work: This consists of music but does not comprises any words or any action intended to be sung, spoken, or performed with the music.
   
• Artistic works: This includes any painting, sculpture, drawing (this includes: diagrams, maps, charts or plans), an engraving or a photograph.
   
• Cinematograph films: Every single recorded work with moving images or visuals will be considered a cinematographic work.
   
• Sound recording: Any work of sound recording irrespective of its storage medium. The songs that contain singer’s voice with or without music, a recorded speech or an audio, or podcast are examples of sound recording.

What cannot be copyrighted?

• Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, and processes;
• Name, Short Phrases, Title, Expressions or slogans;
• Facts, news, and research;
• Information and facts widely known to public;
• Fashions;
• Choreographic works or speeches.

Registration Procedure of Copyright in India

1. Application: An Application for registration is to be applied in Form-XIV, however, separate applications are required to be made for registration of each work with the prescribed fees. Afterwards, one diary no. is being allotted to the Applicant.
    
2. Objections: Once the application receive diary no., the application is ready and prepared for inviting objections. A 30 days waiting period is provided where any individual or third party may object the application within the given time frame.
   
   If any objection is raised then both parties will be invited to respond in writing, and thereafter it will be heard by the Registrar.
    
3. Examination: The examination process under copyright is further divided into two phases:
   
   a. In case no objections are received within the given timeframe, the examiner will move ahead with the examination. Here the application gets reviewed and scrutinized in order to find any sort of inconsistency or discrepancy. If no discrepancy is found, the application will be approved for registration.
   
   Nonetheless, if there are any errors and the examiner is not satisfied with the application submitted, the Discrepancy Letter is issued to the Applicant, where a reply to the letter has to be filed by Applicant and hearing is conducted. Thereafter, a separate procedure of hearing due to rejection is followed.
   
   b. In case a third party objects to the application, letters will be sent out to both parties. The parties are abide to file a reply and thereafter a hearing is conducted, where they are called to be heard by the Hearing Officer. If, after hearing, the objections raised are dismissed, the application will be accepted and the Discrepancy procedure is carried out.
   
   However, the copyright registration process terminates here if the objection is not addressed or clarified or the discrepancy is not resolved.
    
4. Registration: Once the Registrar is completely satisfied with the completeness and correctness of the claims made in the application, he shall enter the particulars of the copyright in the register and issue a Certificate of Registration. The registration process takes almost 12 months from the date of issuance of diary number.

Term of Copyright

Copyright is generally available for lifetime and extends to 60 years. The term of copyright varies upon the kind of work and therefore, in the case of original literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, copyright protection is granted for life time of person which extends to 60 years after the death of author. In the case of cinematograph films, sound recordings, photographs, posthumous publications, anonymous and pseudonymous publications, works of government and international organizations, the 60-year time period will be counted from the date of publication.

Fees for Filing Copyright in India

The Official fees for filing copyright in India depend upon the type of work and Applicant. As per the updated regulation, following are the fees:

Conclusion

In order to create a trustworthy marketplace in a competitive environment, legal protection is essential for safeguarding the intellectual property rights of Applicants who have invested considerable effort in bringing their work before the public. Accordingly, protection of Copyright which is one of the Intellectual property, is essential for promoting vision and securing the creators. The above-mentioned has covered the basic structure, registration process, official fees of copyright in India, which will assist creators to protect their intellectual property and understand the concept of Copyright as intangible or incorporeal property.

Author:

Santoshi Karasi - Attorney