COPYRIGHT
WHAT IS ALL ABOUT COPYRIGHT?
Copyright refers to the legal right of the owner of intellectual property. In simpler terms, copyright is the right to copy. This means that the original creators of products and anyone they give authorization to are the only ones with the exclusive right to reproduce the work.
Copyright law gives creators of original material the exclusive right to further use and duplicate that material for a given amount of time, at which point the copyrighted item becomes public domain.
BENEFITS OF HAVING A COPYRIGHT
1. Prevention of monetary loss
One of the biggest benefits of copyright protection is preventing losses arising from copies being made of the original work. Violation of copyright registration is commonly known as ‘piracy’. In India, all of us are familiar with the word. ‘Pirated’ books, DVDs, music videos are commonly available on the streets of most major cities.
2. Legal protection
The act of registration gives shelter to published work. Without such registration, it becomes difficult to prove the case of the owner in court. For example, a film producer may make a movie that is similar to one that was released earlier. But without copyright registration, it won’t be easy to prove that it was plagiarised in court. The onus is on the creator to prove authenticity.
3. Pre-emptive measure
Another one of the benefits of a copyright is that the registration is on record so that it dissuades others from making unauthorized use of your work. If you discover that someone is copying your work, you can send a `cease’ notice. So you don’t have to bother about legal proceedings at a later stage. This saves a lot of time and money.
4. Incentive to create
Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of copyright law is that it fosters an atmosphere of creativity and innovation. For example, an information technology company can spend millions developing new software. It will do so in the expectation of making money, and copyright law ensures that it can reap the benefits.
5. Protecting reputations
By protecting original work, copyright registration ensures that the reputation of their creators/authors is protected. For example, a music composer or author is in a position to prevent shoddy copies of his or her work, preventing any loss of reputation.
PROCEDURE FOR COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION
Step 1: File an Application
In the first step:
(1). The author of the work, copyright claimant, owner of an exclusive right for the work or an authorized agent file an application either physically in the copyrights office or through speed/registered post or through e-filing facility available on the official website.
(2). For registration of each work, a separate application must be filed with the registrar along with the particulars of the work. Along with this, the requisite fee must also be given, Different types of work have different fees.
At the end of this step, the registrar will issue a dairy number to the applicant.
Step 2: Examination
In the next step, the examination of the copyright application takes place.
Once the dairy number is issued, there is a minimum 30 days waiting period. In this time period, the copyright examiner reviews the application. This waiting period exists so that objections can arise and be reviewed. Here the process gets divided into two segments:
(1). In case no objections are raised, the examiner goes ahead to review and scrutinize the application to find any discrepancy.
(a). If there is no fault and all the essential documents and information is provided along with the application, it is a case of zero discrepancies. In this case, the applicant is allowed to go forward with the next step.
(b). In case some discrepancies are found, a letter of discrepancy is sent to the applicant. Based upon his reply, a hearing is conducted by the registrar. Once the discrepancy is resolved, the applicant is allowed to move forward to the next step.
(2). In case objections are raised by someone against the applicant, letters are sent out to both parties and they are called to be heard by the registrar.
(a). Upon hearing if the objection is rejected, the application goes ahead for scrutiny and the above-mentioned discrepancy procedure is followed.
(b). In case the objection is not clarified or discrepancy is not resolved, the application is rejected and a rejection letter is sent to the applicant. For such applicant, the copyright registration procedure ends here.
Step 3: Registration
The final step in this process can be termed as registration. In this step, the registrar might ask for more documents. Once completely satisfied with the copyright claim made by the applicant, the Registrar of Copyrights would enter the details of the copyright into the register of copyrights and issue a certificate of registration.
The process registration of copyright completes when the applicant is issued the Extracts of the Register of Copyrights (ROC).
TYPES OF COPYRIGHT
Artistic
As per section 2 of the Copyright Act, the copyright in artwork subsists in an original artistic work comprising of paintings, sculptures, graphics, cartoons, etchings, lithographs, photography, drawings, plans, maps, diagrams, charts, buildings, models of buildings, moulds and casts for sculptures.
Cinematograph
Film
A cinematograph is a work of visual recording along with the sound recording accomplished by any process whether analogous or digital including the video films. It includes visual recording in any medium and by any method of storing it. By definition, every recorded work with moving visuals/images will be considered a cinematograph
Music
A musical work is a distinct copyrightable work in itself and does not include lyrics or any sound. The works of the sound recording are though dependent on music work, but to protect musical work a separate application must be moved with the musical work. The author of sound recording need to take permission from the author of music work
Literary/
Dramatic
The original creation of literature which may be in any form like work of fiction, biography, technical books or paper, dramatics, script, thesis, research work, tables, compilation and computer programmes including computer databases. It can be claimed irrespective of its quality, style or literary merit
Sound Recording
The songs which contain singers voice with or without music, a recorded speech or an audio, or podcast is the examples of sound recording. This includes any work of recording sound regardless of its medium or storage. In case the sound recording also has music then permission from the author of music work must be obtained.
Software
A copyright is just that—a right to control who copies your work. It does not stop others from creating the same work. … The software copyright only stops another programmer from copying your work. If she independently produces the same code without access to your original work, then you may not have any recourse.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR COPYRIGHT
- 2 Copies of work
- DD/IPO of Rs. (as applicable) per work
- NOC from author if applicant is different from author.
- NOC from publisher if work published and publisher is different from
applicant. - Search Certificate from Trade Mark Office (TM -60) if the work is being
used on goods or capable of being used on the goods. - NOC from person whose photograph appears on the work.
- If the application is being filed through attorney , a specific Power of
Attorney in original duly signed by the applicant and accepted by the
attorney
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