Introduction to Copyright
In recent years, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) has gained immense importance as a subject. This subject is not restricted to the legal discipline, it is also required in other fields such as in the field of economics, innovation, science, technology, and so on. In IPR, copyright is a form of Intellectual Property under Indian Law, copyright is the armor that protects creators of unique and innovative work from anyone who tries to copy, imitates, or reproduce the original work in any other manner.
Importance of Copyright
- The moment a person fetches the copyright protection on his/her work, they enjoy the copyright protection for a lifetime. In India, copyright can last for a term of 60 years,
- On the following works, copyright can be taken; Fashion Designs, Films, Literary Work, Manuscripts, Music, Paintings, Performance, Software, Training Manuals, etc.
- The Indian Copyright Act, 1957 is the operative law that governs copyright in India. Copyright is defined under Section 13 of the Copyright Act, 1957. The marginal note of Section 13 reads the meaning of copyright and in the main language of Section 13, it describes different things on which copyright can be conferred or given.
- Copyright is considered as our right in the form of a monopoly as the originality of work is the prerequisite to be proved for obtaining protection on that work (for example- artistic work or literary work).
- In the case, of Intellectual Property, it is conferred to a person on his/her intellectual creation, it can be anything as there are several manifestations of a human mind and in the case of copyright, it is literary work, dramatic work, sound recordings, etc.
- In the cases of patents; inventions are the creations of the human mind and in the case of trademarks; designs, labels, logo, and signature, which are some of the examples of the creations of the human mind.
- Therefore, whenever anyone comes up with any intellectual creation in any of these forms, that person needs to be given protection and reward for their creativity.
Who Can Register for Copyright?
- To register for the copyright; the person who has acquired the rights to the original work and the creator of the work can do so. It would be known as ‘work made for hire’ if it was created during the period of employment. The employee will not be considered as the author or creator of the original work. The employer will get that title.
- And if two people have created a work, then they will receive co-ownership of the copyright. There can be an exception if both the authors or creators want it otherwise.
- To obtain a copyright, there is no age bar. A minor is also eligible to register for copyright.
- The creator of the original work can register for copyright.
- Anyone who claims to have obtained the ownership rights of the original work of a creator is also fit to register for copyright.
- Even an agent on the behalf of the above-mentioned people is authorized to register for copyright.
The Importance of Registration Under Copyright Law
It is always advisable to get copyright protection though it is not mandatory to do so. The owner will receive a certain set of minimum rights and for a minimum period, no one will be able to copy their work. This sort of relief and satisfaction will always encourage the owner to create more original work
The Procedure to Obtain Copyright Registration
The following process has to be followed to obtain copyright registration: –
- In the format of FORM IV, an application has to be filled in which all the particulars and the statement of the particulars should be included. This application has to be sent to the registrar with the fees which are mandatory to be paid (the requisite fees are mentioned in Schedule 2 of the Act).
- A separate application is required to be made for separate works.
- The requisite fees for different works are provided by the government in this link: http://copyright.gov.in/frmFeeDetailsShow.aspx
- The applicant and an Advocate have to sign every application. It should be done by an advocate in whose favor a POA or a Vakalatnama has been executed.
- A Diary No. will be issued by the registrar and, for 30 days there is a mandatory waiting for any objections to be received.
- Within 30 days if there are no objections received, then the application would be checked by the scrutinizer for any discrepancy and if there is no discrepancy in the application, then the registration would be done successfully and for the entry in the Register of Copyright, an extract would be sent to the registrar.
- Both the parties will be given a hearing by the examiner if any objection is received. The examiner will send both parties a letter about the objections.
- If the objections are resolved after the hearing, the application would be scrutinized by the scrutineer and after that, the scrutinizer will decide to approve or reject the application.
Conclusion
The objectives of the protection of copyright are to reward the hard work of the authors and aspires to promote the progress of science and useful arts. Whenever copyright protection is conferred, it gives impetus to the author to the creator of the work.
The purpose of conferring the protection in the form of copyright is to disseminate the work so that progress of art and culture can take place. The ideology is not to restrict or confine the progress of the disciplines, the idea is to rather promote the progress by conferring copyright.
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