Introduction Of Copyright Registration in India 

Copyright registration in India refers to legally securing the rights of creators and owners over their original literary, artistic, musical, or dramatic works. The Copyright Office under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is responsible for administering and granting copyright registrations in India.

 

Introduction Of Copyright Registration in India

 

The Copyright Act of 1957 governs copyright law in India and provides creators exclusive rights to reproduce, communicate to the public, adapt, and perform their creative works. While copyright protection exists automatically upon creating a work, registering the copyright provides additional benefits and legal advantages.

In India, copyright registration serves as prima facie evidence of ownership and validity of the copyright. It establishes a public record of the work and its ownership details, making it easier to prove authorship and protect against infringement. Copyright registration also enables creators to take legal action and seek remedies in case of copyright violations.

The Copyright Office accepts applications for copyright registration for various works, including literary works (books, poems, etc.), artistic works (paintings, photographs, sculptures, etc.), musical works, dramatic works, cinematographic films, sound recordings, and software.

To register copyright in India, applicants must submit the application form, the prescribed fee, and supporting documents to the Copyright Office. The application should include details such as the title of the work, year of creation, nature of the work, and information about the author, publisher, and any other relevant parties. Once the application is submitted, it goes through a process of examination, and upon successful completion, a certificate of copyright registration is issued.

Copyright registration in India is essential for creators to protect their intellectual property rights, establish ownership, and safeguard their creative works from unauthorized use. It provides legal benefits and remedies, enhances the work's commercial value, and helps prevent infringement and piracy

The register of the Registrar of Copyrights is divided into the following six categories:

  1. Part I - Literary Works: This category includes various forms of literary works such as books, novels, poems, articles, essays, computer programs, databases, and other written or typed works.
  2. Part II - Artistic Works: This category covers artistic works, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, architectural designs, maps, charts, engravings, and works of applied art.
  3. Part III - Musical Works: This category pertains to musical works, which include compositions with or without lyrics, musical scores, notations, and any other musical arrangements or creations.
  4. Part IV - Cinematograph Films: This category encompasses cinematograph films, which refer to motion pictures or audiovisual works, including feature films, documentaries, animation, short films, and any other form of audiovisual content.
  5. Part V - Sound Recordings: This category involves sound recordings, which include recordings of any kind of sound or voice, including music albums, audiobooks, lectures, speeches, and other audio recordings.
  6. Part VI - Computer Software: This category specifically deals with computer software or computer programs, including source code, object code, software applications, and any other software-related creations.

These categories help organize the register of the Registrar of Copyrights, making it easier to classify and track different types of copyrighted works. Creators and applicants need to specify the relevant category when submitting their copyright registration applications to ensure accurate registration and documentation of their works.

FAQ

Copyright is a right given by the law to creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and producers of cinematograph films and sound recordings. In fact, it is a bundle of rights including, inter alia, rights of reproduction, communication to the public, adaptation and translation of the work. There could be slight variations in the composition of the rights depending on the work. Copyright ensures certain minimum safeguards of the rights of authors over their creations, thereby protecting and rewarding creativity. Creativity being the keystone of progress, no civilized society can afford to ignore the basic requirement of encouraging the same. Economic and social development of a society is dependent on creativity. The protection provided by copyright to the efforts of writers, artists, designers, dramatists, musicians, architects and producers of sound recordings, cinematograph films and computer software, creates an atmosphere conducive to creativity, which induces them to create more and motivates others to create.

No. Acquisition of copyright is automatic and it does not require any formality. Copyright comes into existence as soon as a work is created and no formality is required to be completed for acquiring copyright. However, certificate of registration of copyright and the entries made therein serve as prima facie evidence in a court of law with reference to dispute relating to ownership of copyright.

The procedure for registration is as follows: a) Application for registration is to be made on Form XIV ( Including Statement of Particulars and Statement of Further Particulars) as prescribed in the first schedule to the Rules ; b) Separate applications should be made for registration of each work; c) Each application should be accompanied by the requisite fee prescribed in the second schedule to the Rules ; d) The applications should be signed by the applicant. The Power of Attorney signed by the party and accepted by the advocate should also be enclosed, if applicable. e) The fee is to be paid either in the form of Demand Draft or Indian Postal Order favouring "Registrar Of Copyrights Payable At New Delhi" or through E payment Each and every column of the Statement of Particulars and Statement of Further Particulars should be replied specifically. e) The fee is either in the form of Demand Draft,Indian Postal Order favoring "Registrar Of Copyright Payable At New Delhi" or through E payment Each and every column of the Statement of Particulars and Statement of Further Particulars should be replied specifically.

Chapter XIII of the Copyright Rules, 2013, as amended, sets out the procedure for the registration of a work. Copies of the Act and Rules can be obtained from the Manager of Publications, Publication Branch, Civil Lines, Delhi or his authorized dealers on payment or download from the Copyright Office web-site evtlindia.com"

A website may be understood as a webpage or set of interconnected webpages, hosted or stored on a server, and is made available online to members of public. Users can access the information and other underlying work on a website through various means such as scrolling webpages, using internal hypertext links or a search feature. Website usually consists of different rudiments which may be copyrightable subject matter that falls within any one of the classes of works set forth in Section 13 of Copyright Act, 1957. The component parts of website can be in different form of digital files such as text, tables, computer programmes, compilations including computer databases (“literary works”); photographs, paintings, diagram, map, chart or plan (“artistic works”); works consisting of music and including graphical notation of such work (“musical works”); “sound recordings” and “cinematograph films”. Website as a whole is not subject to copyright protection. Generally, non-copyrightable content particular to websites may include but are not limited to ideas or future plans of websites, functional elements of websites, unclaimable material, layout and format or ‘look and feel’ of a website or its webpage; or other common, unoriginal material such as names, icons or familiar symbols. Applicant is required to submit a separate application for each component work/content appearing on a website.

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