This article is written by Akshaya Chintala from Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad. The article analyses Everything about Copyright Protection.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Copyright comes under the branches of Intellectual Property Rights which have been defined by the World Intellectual Property Organisation as “Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial Property includes patents for inventions, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications.” Intellectual Property, very broadly, means the legal rights which result from intellectual activity in industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields.
A producer (he/she/group) has the right to enjoy financial and other related benefits as set out in the creation rule. Violation of copyright law will have many implications for the judiciary. In comparison, legislation requires libraries to use copyrighted material for research and academic purposes without the copyright holder’s permission. In fact, any infringement or denial of fair use of library services is punishable under the copyright act. Here, an attempt was made to explain issues concerning copyright in relation to library services, as well as highlight security, violation, fair dealings and limitations under the 1957 Indian copyright act. In addition, stressing the duties and obligations of librarians regarding copyright laws. The ability to produce perfect copies of digital content for everyone, however and the ease with which copies can be circulated encourage abuse, unauthorized distribution, plagiarism, and misappropriation.
Moreover, popular peer-to-peer software is widely used by Internet “pirates” to illegally share digital copyrighted content, thus violating the legal rights of the copyright owners. Known mechanisms such as Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems seek to protect and enforce the legal rights associated with the usage of digital content posted on the Internet, but they may also disrupt the balance between producing and sharing material, and give rise to privacy issues. In addition, web users frequently invoke “fair use” and privacy: the former to prevent owners of copyrights from having exclusive control of their creations as intended by copyright law, and the latter to protect the possession and dissemination of confidential data. This article offers a thorough study of the copyright protection law in light of the current world.
Copyright
Copyright is a right to intellectual property due to an individual’s talent and labour in producing and transmitting an original concept. Copyright preserves works of heritage, such as literature, dramatic, musical, and sculpture. Protection of copyright is immediately granted under the 1968 Copyright Act which grants exclusive rights to create, sell and be known as its author to the author of the work. As in many types of intellectual property, there’s no official register or database where you can check and see if your concept is original. From the moment it is first written down, painted or drawn, recorded or taped, copyright material is secured. It also enjoys immunity under the laws of other countries which are co-signatories to similar international treaties with Australia. Copyright is an exclusive legal right granted to the creator or group of individuals to protect their work or creativity from other people’s reproduction, adaptation, translation, distribution and public performance without prior authorisation from the creator/person responsible for the existence of the work.
The object of copyright is to protect and reward the general advantages i.e. the authors’ labour on the created work. This helps the writers to constantly produce and carry out more plays. It is important to note that in a given work, copyright law protects the “type of material communication,” not the individual concepts, ideas, techniques or details. That is the reason why work has to be set in a physical form to be covered by copyright. A few examples of works being tangibly set to include stories written on paper and initial canvas paintings. The forms of work protected by copyright laws include, among other items, song lyrics, books, playbacks, images, computer programs, and emails. Though, you can’t copyright stuff like ideas, titles, names, details etc. Publishing is important for businesses because it only gives the author of the work exclusive rights to replicate their works, create derivative works, distribute and sell any copies of the work, show and publicly perform copyrighted works. You may grant certain rights as a package or separately. This also helps owners to produce income if any other individual opts for reproducing the job.
Infringement of copyright happens when a person other than the copyright holder copies or reproduces the words of work. This basically means knowledge or concepts are not protected, but security is on the idea’s voice. Infringement of copyright can also occur when an individual may not exactly replicate the work, but the work expressed is substantially close to an illegally copied work. Copyright Infringement often happens when an individual exercises some of the rights given to a copyright owner without the owner’s express consent. There are also exceptions to copyright infringement where a person may copy or recreate copyrighted work without the copyright holder’s explicit consent. There is one clause on fair use.
The theory allows anyone to replicate work relevant to copyright for a specific purpose of study, literary criticism and teaching. Colleges and high schools do not rewrite movies and books without this idea. Nevertheless, fair use does operate on a case-by-case basis. The second exception is the public domain, which occurs when copyright law no longer applies to the work. In this case, copyright has expired and anyone can reproduce the work without paying any license fee. The third exception is Non-Copyrightable Works, which occurs when someone uses materials that can not be copyrighted as ideas or facts. However, if a person compiles facts or ideas in the form of a book, the exception will cease to be functional.
Copyright Protection
While copyright does not protect information or ideas on its own, it does protect the original expression of information and ideas. Copyright applies only to literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. The rights which apply to each of these categories vary.
Copyright does not protect against the independent creation of similar works. Legal action against infringement is complicated by the fact that many different copyrights may exist for certain works – in particular for films, broadcasts and multimedia products. Unlike other forms of intellectual property, registration does not confer copyright; instead, it automatically results from the creation of the original work in a material form. This automatic right generally applies for the life of the creator plus 70 years, although it varies depending on the nature of the work and whether or not it has been published. Although a copyright notice with the name and date of the owner is not necessary, it may help to prove your copyright ownership and it is necessary to establish copyright in some countries overseas.
The copyright notice is a note printed on a copyrighted work; it usually includes the © symbol, the date on which the work was created, and the name of the creator. Notice of copyright may act as a deterrent to infringers. As per the Indian Copyright Act section 13 of Chapter III, the protection is given to the following works:
- Literary works;
- Musical works;
- Dramatic works;
- Artistic works;
- Cinematograph films;
- Architectural works;
- Sound recordings;
- Computer program/software.
Copyright law always protects the creator, either fully or partially, even after the assignment of copyright work to others. Moral rights grant the author the right to keep his name on the work forever and protect him from any distortion or alteration of the work or other offensive action in relation to the work that would be detrimental to the reputation of the author. To gain copyright protection the work should have the following-
- The work must be original (Original meaning, created from inspiration and not borrowed from any other existing sources. The work must have been created for the first time)
- It must be fixed in some measurable form. The presentation of the work must be descriptive and physical and must be capable of being recognized in a fixed form/recognized in its nature.
- First publication An original work should not be published before.
- Work published after the death of the author; at the time of death, the author must be a citizen of India.
- In the event of work published in India, the author must be a citizen of India at that time.
Need for Copyright Protection
It is important to note that copyright protects the way in which the idea is presented, rather than the idea itself; for example, if it is committed to paper or another piece of media.
So what makes it so important to have copyright protection? Sure, if it happens automatically, don’t you have to worry about it? While it’s true that your work is automatically protected, that doesn’t mean that people won’t copy your gain.
Copyrights should be protected because it ensures certain minimum safeguards for author’s rights over their creations, thus protecting and rewarding their creativity. Since creativity is the key to progress, no civilized society can afford to ignore the basic requirement to encourage the same thing. The economic and social development of a society depends on creativity. There is also the concept of copyright as a legacy that can last for decades, passed down as a part of the estate. In the case of literary, musical or artistic works, copyrights may last another 70 years after the death of the original creators and in the broadcast or publishing cases this period may extend to 50 years.
If someone infringes your copyright, you will have legal grounds to sue the guilty party either to pay you a license or to compensate you for any financial loss you may have incurred. If they use your work without your knowledge, you have the right to stop them doing so and to receive compensation for any earnings they have earned on the back of your work. If you see anyone use your job without your knowledge or consent, we recommend that you consult an IP expert on what legal action you should take. If you have works that are patented and have attracted the attention of other parties, you can explore your licensing options to ensure that you can benefit financially from their use. Licensing is your legal permission to another party to allow them to use any (or all) of your copyrighted works.
Licensing is also an important way to improve the legal security for the project, which can be used as evidence against any person that refuses to fulfil their side of the bargain or uses the research without authorisation. Infringements of copyright occur every day, so remain on top of defending your intellectual property and take reasonable action to ensure that your rights are taken care of.
Conditions for Copyright Protection
Copyright does not protect ideas or facts themselves. Copyright does protect the selection and arrangement of ideas: i.e., their original and creative expression, as soon as they are fixed in some tangible form. The Requirements to Claim Copyright Are:
- Fixation
The ideas must be fixed in some tangible medium of expression. Copyright protection is automatic, although there are benefits to officially registering your work with the Copyright Office. Copyright protection is immediate, as soon as the expression is fixed in tangible form. That is, it applies to drafts and completed works, both published and unpublished. - Originality
A fixed expression of ideas is protected by copyright if and only if it is original.
Neither quality nor uniqueness is required.- Even bad work is subject to copyright protection.
- Works that are similar, but independently created, are individually subject to copyright protection.
- Minimal Creativity
Hard work is not enough to gain copyright protection.
At least minimal creativity is also required.
Examples:- A list of parts for a child’s toy is probably not subject to copyright.
- A sheet of instructions for assembling a toy from its parts may be subject to copyright.
- A complete telephone white page is not subject to copyright.
- A categorized yellow pages directory may be subject to copyright.
- A web-site that provides the means for searching a white pages database may be subject to copyright.
- A list of parts for a child’s toy is probably not subject to copyright.
Copyright protection is not provided for;
- Works not fixed in tangible form.
- Titles, names, short phrases, slogans, methods, factual information, symbols or designs – however,
- trademark law may provide some protection to these works.
- Ideas or concepts, procedures, process, plans, principles, discoveries, and guidelines – however, in such cases patent or trade secret law may provide protections to these works.
- Works that are already in the public domain and original authorship is not traceable are not covered under copyright law.
- Copyright works that are already expired.
Registration of Copyright
Normally speaking, copyright does not require registration of any type for its protection. But registering a copyright is very significant, as registering a copyright is an additional benefit, which protects the work’s ownership from needless disputes. In the event of possible conflict over copyright infringement, copyright registration certificates and the copyright register containing information of registered copyrights are known as “admissible facts” in the court of law. These act as prima facie evidence of conflicts relating to copyright ownership. If the work is created in a tangible form, the copyright on its creation is automatically acquired by the creator. The term protection of copyright on various works has been defined in section 22-29 of Chapter V of the Indian Copyright Act.
The term for the defence of copyright is as mentioned below.
- The author’s lifespan plus 60 years from the author’s death is the copyright term in respect of published literature, dramatic, musical and artistic works. In the case of multiple writers, the term is 60 years after the last author’s death.
- For anonymous and pseudonymous works, the period of copyright is 60 years from the date of publication.
The main question of importance arises here is Who can Register for Copyright Protection?
Copyright may be claimed by the author of the work and the person who has acquired rights to the original work. If the said piece was produced during the time of jobs, it would be called ‘work made for hire.’ In such a case, the worker is not known as the author or creator of the work. The title is for the employer. If a work has been done by two men, they gain co-ownership of the copyright unless otherwise desired by the men concerned. There is no limit on age to receive copyright. A minor can register one of them too. If we were to limit it to three simple sets of people who may apply for a copyright, it would be:
- The creator of the work.
- Any person claiming to have inherited the rights of ownership from the original job creator
- An agent allowed to act on behalf of the aforementioned individuals.
The following are the steps to be followed by a copyright owner in order to gain the desired copyright protection.
Step 1: Document filing- Document must be submitted either in DD/IPO, along with the appropriate charge. Upon the filing of this application, a diary number will be produced and provided to the applicant.
Step 2: There is a minimum wait of 30 days for recording and analysing any objections that may come up against the copyright application.
In case of no Objection:
The application goes ahead for scrutinization by an examiner. This scrutiny gives rise to two options:
In case of the discrepancy found during scrutiny:
A letter of the discrepancy is sent to the application letter is generated and sent to the applicant.
Based on the reply from the applicant, the registrar conducts a hearing of the alleged discrepancy row.
Once the discrepancies are sorted during the hearing, the extracts of the same are sent to the applicant for him/her to register the copyright.
In the case of zero discrepancies:
This would mean that the copyright application fulfils all criteria required for the copyright. The applicant is then given the nod to go ahead with the registration of the same.
(If the registration is not approved, then the applicant receives a letter of rejection)
In case of an objection filed:
In case one is faced with an objection, the following procedures take place:
Authorities send out letters to the two concerned parties, trying to convince them to take back the objection.
After requisite replies from the third party, the registrar conducts a hearing.
Depending on whether the registrar accepts the reply, the procedure takes shape.
If the application is accepted:
The application being accepted means that the objection has been rejected. The application goes ahead for scrutinization by an examiner. This scrutiny gives rise to two options:
In case of the discrepancy found during scrutiny:
A letter of the discrepancy is sent to the application letter is generated and sent to the applicant.
Based on the reply from the applicant, the registrar conducts a hearing of the alleged discrepancy row.
Once the discrepancies are sorted during the hearing, the extracts of the same are sent to the applicant for him/her to register the copyright.
In the case of zero discrepancies:
This would mean that the copyright application fulfils all criteria required for the copyright. The applicant is then given the nod to go ahead with the registration of the same. (If the registration is not approved, then the applicant receives a letter of rejection)
If an application is rejected:
In case this happens, then the applicant receives a rejection letter that marks the end of the copyright procedure.
Step 3: Upon further submission of documents, if the Copyright Registrar is fully satisfied with the completeness and correctness of the claim made in the application, the copyright details shall be entered in the copyright register and the Registration Certificate shall be issued. Registration shall be completed when the applicant receives a copy of the entries made in the Copyright Register.
Legislations governing copyright
Under the Copyright Act, 1957 the term “work” includes a creative work comprising of a painting, a sculpture, a drawing (including a diagram, a map, a chart or plan), an engraving, a photograph, a piece of architecture or artistic craftsmanship, writing (including computer programmes, tables, compilations and computer databases), musical work (including music yet as graphical notations), recording and cinematographic film. In order to stay pace with the worldwide harmonization requirement, the Copyright Act of 1957 brought copyright law in India into line with developments within the information technology industry, whether within the field of satellite broadcasting or computer software or digital technology.
The law of copyright in India not only provides for civil remedies within the type of final injunction, damages or accounts of profits, delivery of the infringing material for destruction and price of the legal proceedings, etc., but also makes instances of infringement of copyright, a cognizable offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be over six months but which can reach three years with a fine which shall not be but Rs 50,000 but may reach Rs 2,00,000. The Indian Copyright Act, 1957 gives the police authority to register the complaint (First Information Report, i.e. the FIR) and to act on its own to arrest the accused, search the premises of the accused and seize the infringing material with non-intervention by the court.
Violation of copyright law by somebody without a license or permission by the owner of the creation is termed infringement of copyright. There are provisions for such violations and punishments like enhanced fine and punishment under the Copyright Act. Copyright law provides exclusive legal rights to an author to urge every kind of advantage on his creation. If you infringe on someone else’s belongings rights by using the copyright of the author without his or her permission, you will be guilty of infringement. you will be ready to defend yourself against your unauthorized use of copyrighted material in certain situations. Typically, claiming that you just didn’t know of somebody else’s copyrighted material doesn’t excuse you.
The Copyright Act, 1957, along with the Copyright Rules of 1958 and also the amendments thereto, are intended to safeguard the rights and interests of the creators and owners of belongings and to safeguard the interests of the planet as a full. As per the Section 51 of chapter XI of the Indian copyright act, using any copyrighted work without the permission of a copyright owner is an infringement of copyright law and also the following instances can be considered as an infringement of copyright. somebody who does the infringement of copyright is solely held answerable for his misconduct like –
- Performing publicly with no consent of the owner.
- Using copyrighted work for any quite business which brings financial benefit.
- Distributing for the aim of trade or import.
- Reproduction of considerable a part of copyrighted ad any material form.
- Circulating among the unauthorized persons.
- Adoption or translation of copyright work with no permission.
- Resale or renting of copyrighted material to others.
International copyright Protection
Copyright protection rules are fairly similar throughout the world due to several international copyright treaties, the most important of which is the Berne Convention. Under this Treaty, all Member States and there are more than 100, including virtually all industrialized nations, must grant copyright protection to authors who are nationals of any Member State. This protection must last for at least the life of the author plus 50 years and must be automatic without the need for the author to take any legal action to preserve copyright.
In addition to the Berne Convention, contains a number of provisions affecting the protection of copyright in the signatory countries. Together, the Berne Copyright Convention and the GATT Treaty allow U.S. authors to enforce their copyright in most industrialized nations and allow U.S. nationals to enforce their copyright in the U.S. Several international treaties encourage reasonably coherent protection of copyrights from country to country. They set minimum standards of protection which each signatory country will then apply within the bounds of its own copyright law. Efforts in the European Union to harmonize copyright law have resulted in a number of regulations, including the 2001 Copyright Directive in the Information Society.
Conclusion
Although there are many limitations to copyright and issues, understanding copyright law and use would direct us to use copyrighted content for tutorial and research purposes in an exceedingly secure manner. A sufficient level of understanding of copyright issues must be developed during/before the procurement/subscription of any resources. At now, an agreement/contract/terms and conditions between the parties concerned on the procurement of resources would have a significant role to play in protecting the copyright of the holders. As a facilitator, the librarian must educate his users on copyright issues on a daily basis. And this might become one amongst the important factors that may play a significant role in reducing copyright infringements among library users. As per the Indian copyright act 1957, it’s very clear that neither the publisher nor the facilitator is answerable for any infringement of copyrighted material, but someone who is involved within the activity of infringement is solely held answerable for his act of misconduct.
Thus, one can conclude by saying that these online copyright issues are adequately protected, albeit not in clear and express terms. so as to fulfil the ever-increasing challenges posed by the changing circumstances and also the latest technology, existing legislation is often interpreted in such some way that every one aspect of copyright is adequately covered. Until the country has such a sound and robust legal basis for the protection of belongings rights, the judiciary should play a vigorous role within the protection of belongings rights, including copyright. However, things are not as troubling as they are perceived, and the current program can still efficiently fix any issues related to copyright infringements.
References
- https://actuateip.com.au/copyright-protection/
- https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/faqs/copyright-protection/
- https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html
- https://www.legalzoom.com/knowledge/copyright/topic/copyright-protected-works
- https://www.copyrightuser.org/understand/rights-permissions/protecting/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/copyright-protection
- http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/cp_pp.htm
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