DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE COPYRIGHT LAW

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This article is written by Priyadarshini Chakraborty of 7^th Semester of Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College (University Of Calcutta), an intern under Legal Vidhiya

Abstract

The Copyright Act, of 1957 along with the Copyright Rules, strictly and precisely keep in check the regulations associated with the shielding of an individual’s sole innovation and invention arising out of his intellectual hard work, strive, and unique thinking or imagination. The original or the general concept behind the origination of the Copyright Laws in India can be traced and drawn back to the colonial era under the British Imperial Raj or supremacy or in simple terms hegemony. Due to such reasons, it is indeed considered to be the first intellectual property to gain its legal recognition in the world. The Copyright Act, of 1957 is assumed to be one of the prior stages of the post-independence legislation that has been changed, revised, and amended six times after its undertaking and smooth functioning from the period open of 1957. The most contemporary and current changing of the sections of the Copyright Act, of 1957 was in the recent and current year of 2012. In general and common terms the objective of the Copyright Act of 1957 is to safeguard works in literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, cinematography or any such motion picture or in simple explanation, film and sound recordings, or any such other productions where the intellectual labour of the originator of such unique production is reflected. Copyright is a very unique kind of intellectual property, and the very importance of which is increasing gradually and also gaining vital importance in the field of protecting intellectual labour day by day. The Copyright is the very first such intellectual property that received legal recognition in the whole world. The right that a person or an individual acquires in a work, which is a result and consequence of his intellectual labour is called his copyright to that specific creation of his own property.

Keywords: The Copyright Act of 1957, copyright law, intellectual labour, the object of the copyright law, copyright is not a right in the idea, fields of copyright work, essential features of copyright law, registration is not required, infringement of copyright, remedies

Introduction

Copyright is a specified pile or any other such specified stack of rights given by the legislation of the Act to the creators or originators of any literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic productions or any audio-visual work to protect their unique productions of work from annexation by other people. The rights that are provided under the Copyright Act of 1957 are mainly the right to registration, right to reproduction, right to earn out of such production and communicate or showcase the work to the people, and protection of the unique work from annexation by other people. The sole and only purpose of Copyright Law is to motivate intellectual and philosophical heads or originators to keep producing, delivering, creating, cultivating, or inventing ideas and thoughts to the public for entertainment and amusement.

Copyright is not the right idea

The honourable Supreme Court of India upholds and highlights the notion that the very main object of the Copyright Act of 1957 is that there are no copyright claims or protection in any idea or thinking of a specific work, content, or any subject matter of a specified work which has not been produced in original work, pre-planned themes, works, toils which have not been produced beforehand but are in the situation of planning or about to be executed. Merely the simple concept behind such a unique production of work is that it is a right or liberty acquired and derived from the works and not merely from the idea, under the basis of which the copyright law provides protection. It protects the expression of ideas and not merely the protection of the ideas themselves. For example, a person may have a brilliant or excellent idea or a notion for a subject matter or a story and communicates or conveys the idea of such a story to another person who is an artist or an author and eventually who produces that same subject matter or work, in such a case it cannot be said that there is an infringement of Copyright. In simple terms, the originator of the brilliant idea is not the owner of the copyright unless he is a creator of his work and produces the idea in actual work.

The law of copyright protects original works in the following fields:

Literary work
Dramatic work
Musical work
Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural work
Pantomime and choreographic work
Architectural work
Motion picture and other audio-visual work
Sound recording

Characteristics of the Copyright Law:

It is an intellectual property right: Copyright is a kind of intellectual property the importance of which is increasing day by day, especially in the contemporary world. As it is the result of the human intellect and the creative mind. It is called intellectual property as it is the sole and unique production of a creative and inventive mind and the cost of intellectual labour.
The originality of the work: Copyright exists only in an original or a unique work. The production of such work arising out of the human intellect and the creative mind shall be unique and original in every way and merely it should not be copied from any other work.
Registration is not required: The Indian law for Copyright does not make the registration for copyright mandatory or essential. One can or may not register. It is not compulsory on any basis. Although under every circumstance for the protection or the aid of law, the originator of such unique work should register.
Copyright is a monopoly right: Copyright is a monopoly of rights restraining and prohibiting other individuals from exercising that right. It is the only and sole right which is conferred exclusively and singly to the owner or originator of a unique work.
Copyright is a negative right: Copyright is a negative right in the sense that it is prohibitory. It is a right of an individual creating such unique work to exercise the copyright law by himself only. Moreover, it prevents any other individuals from imitating, copying, or reproducing any other works of any such individual.
Copyright consists of multiple rights: In general and more clear terms copyright is not a single right. It consists of a heap of other such different rights for the same work of production. In the case of literary work, copyright comprises and consists of the right of publication in a newspaper or magazine, the right of cinematography, the right of serial, and the right of translation.
Copyright is not an actionable claim: Copyright undoubtedly is a beneficial interest in a movable property but the rightful owner of any such property but the owner of the right always has actual or constructive possession of any such property and therefore copyright hardly comes under the preview or jurisdiction of the actionable claim as mentioned under Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act of 1882.

Infringement of Copyright

In simple and more general terms infringement of copyright means the illegal or violative use of any other individual’s copyrighted labor. Therefore infringement means the use or application of any other individual’s copyrighted work without informing or seeking permission from the originator or owner of such a unique work and hence infringing or violating the general rights of the owner such as the right to reproduction, and communicating his work to the public. It is merely a trespass on any individual’s private realm owned and owned by the individual holding on to the right of copyright and it is protected well by the law of infringement of copyright or by the law of privacy. Section 51 of the Copyright Act of 1957 speaks about the infringement of copyright. To constitute an infringement of copyright following essentials are needed:

The sole owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to do certain acts in respect of the original work.
Any other person exploits, copies, imitates, or makes a profit by exploiting the original work of the sole owner of the copyright.

Acts which amount to or constitute an infringement of copyright:

Section 51 of the Copyright Act of 1957 states or makes clear the concept and acts that amount to the infringement of the copyright:
Replicas of the original work which are subjected to copyright work are made without any prior permission or consent of the owner of the copyrighted work.
Such infringing copies of replicas are made with the general and sole intention of making money and any such individual does the work of such to make money or is used for trade gains out of the replicas which are made for violating the rights of the owner of the copyright.
If such replicated or duplicated copies are performed in the public to communicate through such works of production.
If any such duplicate or infringing copies are imported or brought to India.
Exhibition of such works of production in the public
Duplication of any literary, dramatical, artistic, or musical work of production other than any audio-visual or motion picture work or cinematographic film productions.
Creation of any duplication or replication of any sound recording which already had been produced in work or originality.
Replication of any cinematographic works of production.
Stealing or copying of any software-based programs run through computer base programming codes and read-only through such software which is specified by designed for the smooth functioning of any such software-based programs or codes.

Remedies for infringement of copyright

If any individual’s right is infringed or is violated by any other people which is not his right, the law lays down strict punishment for people trying to violate other people’s rights. As it is strongly believed by the law itself that ‘ Where there is a right there is a remedy, no man is at liberty to take away the fruit of another individual’s labour or any other individual’s hard work and enjoy such work by exploiting the people. The Law of Copyright enumerates three types and categories of remedies for infringement and violation of rights.:

Civil Remedy

Criminal prosecution

Administrative Remedy

1. Civil Remedy: Any individual can file a suit for a civil remedy to any court of competent law, other than the court which is not inferior to the District Court and above. Even civil suit remedies can be classified into the following:

Injunction: Injunction is the order of a competent court of law directing a party to the litigation to do or desist from doing any particular act. An injunction may be mandatory or prohibitory but generally, in the case of intellectual property, it is basically and more commonly prohibitory in characteristics. In the case of the injunction it can also be classified into the followings:
Temporary Injunction
Mareva Injunction
Anton Pillar Injunction
Perpetual Injunction
Damages: Copyright is a right of property and any injury caused to such right shall give to claim of any compensation or damages. The amount of such compensation is decided by the court of competent law which is given to the plaintiff for the harm caused by the defendant.
Accounts of profit: It is an alternative remedy to damages. The court in general and most common cases may order payment to the owner of copyright and the payment is a profit paid by the defendant as a result of the infringement of the copyright production of unique work by the originator of such production.
Delivery up: The Copyright Act of 1957 states and lays down that all such duplicated copies or infringed copies shall be in whole delivered up to the plaintiff or the rightful owner of the original copy work.

2. Criminal Prosecution: In contrary to the civil remedies provided to the owner of the copyright, criminal proceedings can also be filed against the accused. One clear thing that should be kept in mind is that no court inferior to that of the Metropolitan Magistrate or Judicial Magistrate of First Class has jurisdiction to try an offence under the Act. Infringement of Copyright has been declared to be an offence punishable with imprisonment extending to a minimum period of 6 months to the maximum period of three years, with a fine which may vary from fifty thousand to two lakh rupees.

3.Administrative Remedy: It consists of approaching the registration of copyright to ban the import of any duplicate or replica copies to India when such infringement is by way of importation and handing over of the entirely confiscated infringing duplicated copies to the owner of the copyright.

Case Laws

In Pepsi company V. Hindusthan Cocoa Cola Limited AIR 2004

The Honourable Delhi High Court held in its judgment that the advertisement and promotion of any specific brand through catching phrases are also entitled to copyright protection. The Court upheld that the phrase ” Yeh dil mange more” is an original literary work of the company Pepsi and hence copying such subject matter or theme is an infringement by the Hindusthan Coca-Cola Limited.

In Asian Paints Limited V. Jain Kishan Paints AIR 2002

The Bombay High Court restricted the defendant from using the wording of the label ‘UTKARSH’ and was held to be found a colourable representation of the plaintiff’s label ‘ UTSAV’ as registered under the Copyright Act of 1957.

Conclusion

Copyright is an unique kind of intellectual property right in fact the first intellectual property to gain legal recognition in the world. The copyright does not protect the original idea of thought but only the original expression of any idea or thought. According to the provisions of the Copyright Act of 1957 registration is not mandatory. One may or may not register but it is always advisable to register one’s work. The two regulatory bodies under the Copyright Act of 1957 are: