Basic principles of Copyright in India

Basic principles of Copyright in India

The legal right granted by the legal system to an originator to use the content and distribute it is referred as the Copyright. However, these absolute rights are limited by a few restrictions. Copyright only intends to protect the innovative representation of ideas. The fundamental ideas itself are not taken into consideration under this right. The “basic principles of Copyright” will provide us with a detailed account of its functioning in India. Copyright is applicable on only a certain forms of creative work which contains intellectual property. However, it is necessary for all authorization to sanction copyrighted works. Time and again, similar content are mutually shared among multiple authors. These authors possess the right to utilize or certify the work. They may duplicate the work, hold control over plagiaristic works along with holding distribution rights among other things. In 1914, the Indian Copyright Act was sanctioned. This Act was primarily built on the established United Kingdom Copyright Act, 1911.But after the massive devolvement of technology, it was necessary to develop an improvised law, which could safeguard the rights of the copyright owners as well as the initial creators. The improvised Act was enacted by the Parliament of India based on the Berne convention along with the universal copyright declaration. Section 17 of the Act declares the requirements in order to attain a copyright ownership. According to this, an individual should meet the criteria of this Act to acquire a copyright ownership.

Possession of Copyright

It is mandatory to follow the provisions of copy right Act under Section 17. No other existing laws in India can contradict the violation of copyright ownership.In addition, to possess the right of the copyright, the nationality of an individual is a crucial factor. Section 13(2) under this Act declares -(1) When a work is published , it is necessary that the work is published in India. However, if under any circumstances the content is published elsewhere and not in India, the author of the content must be an Indian citizen on the date of publication. In case of the demise of the author, the author should be an Indian citizen at the time of his death and not otherwise. (2) As per, Section 7 of the Copyright Act ,the author of an unpublished work, while creating the unpublished work must be an India national or a resident in India where the creation of that work is increased over a considerable duration. (3) When architectural work is involved, the work itself must be focused in India. Moreover, there are many citizens along with international organizations who are safeguarded by the copyright in India. However, there are certain restrictions to these rights as well. Moreover, Section 17 further dictates few provisions as well.

1. Section 17 (a) declares in case the author is employed by the owner of a magazine, newspaper or any other column for a limited amount of time under a signed contract service, the proprietor would be the first owner of the copyright in the work. However, in other circumstances, the author would be the primary owner of the copyright in the content.
2. Section 17(b) states that in case of a photograph, work of art or a picture was drawn, or a cinematography film that has been created by an individual, for any valuable issue, in the absence of any kind contract, the individual will be the first owner of the copyright.
3. Section 17 (c) declares that when a work is created by an author during the employment period under a contract of service, where clause (a) or clause (b) is not applicable, thereafter the proprietor will be the primary owner of the copyright.
4. Section 17(cc) declares when a speech is delivered in public by an individual or on behalf of another individual then such other person be the first owner of the copyright.
5. Section 17(d) states that the government will be the primary owner of the government work in the absence of any kind of arrangement.
6. Section 17(dd) declares any kind of work which is created or initially published under the guidance of or under the supervision of any kind of public undertaking, in the non existence of agreement , such public undertaking will be the primary owner of the copyright .
7. Section 17(e) states any brand of work where section 41 is applicable, the international organization shall be the first possessor of the copyright .

Principles of Copyright

1. The Copyright law in India is applicable on all original and innovative creation. Materials ranging from journals, books, photographs, music, sound recordings, art, websites and more are safeguarded under the copyright law. In addition, dance, architecture, choreography are fortified as well. When an individual can view, examine, listen to a content, it is probable that the content is secured by the principles of copyright.
2. In order to protect a creation, no copyright notice or registration is required. It can be done without those as well. Original works of authors are protected by the copyright law. Once a work is created via any medium, the work receives an automatic copyright safety.
3. An author in case of a literary or dramatic content refers to the individual who develops the content. The composer is the author of a musical work. The producer is the author when a cinematograph film is taken into consideration. The producer is the rightful owner of a sound recording. The photographer is the author and holds the ownership in case of a photograph. An individual who is responsible for creating a computer generated content is the author.
4. Copyright security on an original content is valid for many years. A work of an author can be protected throughout the existence of the author, and after their demise, it is protected for another seventy years.
5. However, when a few content lacks copyright protection, it is plausible to use such content with no legal bindings and restrictions of the copyright law. Nonetheless, copyrights do have an expiration date, and those works may enter the public arena and are available without any constraint.

Thereafter, the “basic principles of Copyright” give us a comprehensive knowledge of the ownership of a copyright in an original content. This ownership is safeguarded by the legal system in India. Moreover, this Act secures the ownership of unpublished work as well.