WRITE UP ON COPYRIGHT

Copyright is a form of intellectual property protection granted by the law to the creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. It gives rights to the creators as rights of reproduction, communication to the public, adaptation and translation of the work.

Copyright ensures some minimum safeguards of the rights of authors over their creations, thereby protecting and rewarding creativity.

To get the copyright registration the work must be original.

The "Work" protected in India are

Under the (Indian) Copyright Act, 1957,

• artistic work including a painting, a sculpture, a drawing (including a diagram, map, chart or plan), an engraving, a photograph, a work of architecture or artistic craftsmanship, dramatic work,
• literary work (including computer programmes, tables, compilations and computer databases),
• musical work (including music as well as graphical notation),
• sound recording, and
• cinematograph film

Any work whether published or unpublished can be applied for copyright protection. Guidelines for registration of copyright are in Chapter XIII of the Copyright Rules, 2013, as amended.

Copyright does not ordinarily protect titles by themselves or names, short word combinations, slogans, short phrases, methods, plots or factual information. Copyright does not protect ideas or concepts.

Three copies of published work may be sent along with the application. If the work to be registered is unpublished, a copy of the manuscript has to be sent along with the application for affixing the stamp of the Copyright Office in proof of the work having been registered. In case two copies of the manuscript are sent, one copy of the same duly stamped will be returned, while the other will be retained, as far as possible, in the Copyright Office for record and will be kept confidential. It would also be open to the applicant to send only extracts from the unpublished work instead of the whole manuscript and ask for the return of the extracts after being stamped with the seal of the Copyright Office.

When a work has been registered as unpublished and subsequently it is published, the applicant may apply for changes in particulars entered in the Register of Copyright with prescribed fee.

This is an informative write up; it’s not a professional advice or comment. Rreaders discretion required.

CS Anupam Jaiswal

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