COPYRIGHT
SNA
Subramaniam
& Associates
Attorneys-at-Law · Patent and Trademark Agents
Our attorneys are well versed with various aspects of Indian copyright laws, including obtaining appropriate protection and registrations for literary, artistic and cinematographic works. With seasoned experience of working with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, we also possess extensive know-how in the enforcement of copyrights, both via civil and criminal proceedings as well as cancellation proceedings.
How does Copyright work in India?
Section 9 of The Copyright Act, 1957, prescribes the establishment of an office - the Copyright Office - for the purposes of the Act. The Act states that the Copyright Office must be under the immediate control of a Registrar of Copyrights to be appointed by the Central Government, who would act under the superintendence and directions of the Central Government. Until very recently, the Copyright Office was under the purview of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. By a notification dated May 30, 2016, the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks was granted additional charge of the post of the Registrar of Copyrights with immediate effect, bringing the functioning of the Copyright Office within the scope of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
Section 14 of the Act prescribes the bundle of rights conferred by a copyright in musical, dramatic, literary and artistic work, including, inter alia, the right to reproduce, perform, communicate to the public and make translations and adaptations of said work. Whom the right is conferred upon varies, depending on the nature of the work in question. The term of of the copyright also varies with the work in question and the time of its publication.
India is not a contracting state to the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) or to the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). However, our copyright laws have seen a series of amendments, the most recent and substantial of which occurred in 2012, and the primary reason for said amendments as stated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development was to bring our law in conformity with the WCT as well as the WPPT.