Overview of “copyright act 1957”, /Rights of the copyright owner,infringement ,exceptance and remedies of copyright.

Introduction of copyright act.

The copyright act 1957 came into force on 21 January 1958 in India,  This Act has 15 chapters and 79 sections. This law falls under intellectual property rights, where people create certain immovable property through their thoughts and efforts or skills, and this law protects such works from unauthorised or illegal used.

The Copyright Act 1957, based on Berne Convention and The Copyright Act has been amended six times to date,1983,1984,1992,1994,1999,and 2012.The 2012 amendment changes several issues.  And this amendment is a major amendment to the Act.

The main purpose of this Act is to protect the interests of creators and encourage them to continue working with new ideas.  Therefore, there are many remedies available to the creators if their rights are violated in the law.

This Act contains many provisions regarding registration of these immovable properties, rights of the owners of these properties, used or distribution and appropriate measures against other persons who use these properties  illegally or unauthorizedly.

Protection of Materials under copyright.

• Literary Works :Books, Speech, article,poems, Advertising, Games, lyrics ,Computer Programs, movie script.
• Musical Composition: Musical Score,Cd,Dvd,Tape,MP3 Files, Cassette,
• Dramatic Activity: Play Movies, Tv Show,News Cast, Cinematography,Video recording.
• Chorographical Works : Gestures And Facial Expressions,Dance Movements.
• Graphics And Sculptural Activities: Photographs, Paintings,Maps, Cartoons, Fabrics, Games, Poster’s ,Toys.
• Additional Activities: Audio Visuals,Sound Recording, Architecture Work.

Registration of copyright.

Importance and benefits

Registration Is Not Compulsory Under The Copyright Law, Copyright Belongs To The Creator Of  Immovable Properties Once They Are Released Or published, But Registration of copyright Provides Many Benefits To The Owner, Such As Legal Protection, Strengthened Security Of The Properties, Global Protection, The Owner Publicity,after Registration The Property Is Considered As An Assets And Increases The Brand Value Of The Property So The Owner Has Economic Stability .

Time period

The Duration Of Copyright Is Divided Into Two Types,From the death of the author: IN literary works, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, the author’s copyright in such properties remains for 60 years after the author’s death. Example: If an author releases a book in 2000, and he dies in 2012, then 60 years are added from 2012, and the author will have the copyright until 2072.

From the death of the author: IN literary works, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, the author’s copyright in such properties remains for 60 years after the author’s death. Example: If an author releases a book in 2000, and he dies in 2012, then 60 years are added from 2012, and the author will have the copyright until 2072.

From the date of publication:, cinematography movies,sound recording, photographs, posthumous publishing In this case, the owner has copyright in such properties for 60 years from the date of publication.

Copyright office.

Section 9 of the copyright Act 1957 explains the establishment of a copyright office, and the central government appoints a registrar to this office.The main function of this office is to registration of  the immovable properties of the owners, and also to collect or maintain Data or information.

Owners or authors should visit this registrar office and pay the price fixed by the central government for registration of the immovable properties they have created.The copyright office checks all the information for accuracy and after a few days issues a seal on the property applied for registration.

Copyright board

Explains the formation of a copyright board under the copyright act  And this board is constituted by the Central government with a chairman and at least two to maximum fourteen other members.The main function of this borad is to resolve copyright disputes.

Right of copyright owner ,

• Reproduction Right: The Copyright Owner Has The Right To Make Copies Of His Work, Such As Through Printing, Recording, And Digital Reproduction. Example : making copies of a Book,
• Distribution right: The Copyright Owner Has The Right To Sell, Rent, Lease, Or Lending Copies Of His Work To The Public.
• Public performance right: The Copyright Owner Can Show Their Work To The Public Through Theatres, Concert Halls, Digital Streaming, And They Can Also Publish Their content In Public Places By Holding Various Events.
• Derivative work right: Copyright owners can create another version of their work.  And has right of derivative work , For example, you can translate an English book into Hindi and publish it.  Or you can show the story of a book through a movie. 
• Moral rights: Copyright owners have moral rights, they have the right to protect their works from alteration, destruction, modification etc.  They have the right to sue others if their work is used with bad intentions and without permission.
• Right of paternity: The copyright owner can claim the name of the author, and can take appropriate action against anyone who does not acknowledge the name of the author when displaying the copyright owner’s work.

Infringement of copyright

• Reproduction and Distribution : Making duplicate copies of copyrighted works without the owner’s Authorization and  selling ,renting these copies to the public without permission of the actual owner.
• Adaptation or Modification: Making derivative works based on the original copyrighted work without permission, including translations, adaptations, or modifications.Example -If someone translates a copyrighted English book into Hindi language without permission.
• Publishing publically :Publicly performing or displaying a copyrighted work without permission. Copyrighted material cannot be shown publicly in theatres, exhibitions, concert etc. without the permission of the  owner.
• Uploading or sharing copyrighted content online without proper licensing or consent. Example: You cannot use copyrighted movie songs in your YouTube videos.
• Commercial purpose:  Using copyrighted material for commercial purposes without obtaining the necessary permissions

Exception of the copyright,

Fair dealing: Certain uses of copyrighted works for purposes such as research, private study, criticism, review, news reporting, teaching, library/archival use, or parody/satire may be considered fair dealing and thus not constitute copyright infringement.

• Educational use:  copyrighted materials are used for educational purposes in classrooms or for academic research then copyright is not infringed.

• Personal use: Making copies of copyrighted material for personal use, such as for backup or format shifting (e.g., transferring music from CDs to digital formats for personal use), may be allowed under certain circumstances.

• Public domain works: When the specified period of the copyright materials are  expires,then you may use such materials freely.

• Incidental use: Use of copyrighted material that is incidental or accidental and not the primary focus of the work may be permissible in some cases.If such action is non profit.

Remidies of copyright act.

Civil remedies

Injunction:If the copyrighted materials of the original owner are illegally sold or distributed by someone else, the court issues an injunction to stop such actions . This prevents the infringer from continuing to use or distribute the copyrighted material unlawfully.

Damages: Copyright owners may be entitled to monetary damages for the losses suffered due to the infringement. These damages may include actual damages .

Accounts and Profits: The court may order the infringer to provide an account of the profits derived from the infringement and to pay those profits to the copyright owner.

Attorney’s Fees and Costs: The copyright infringer must pay the owner the costs of the court battle incurred by the copyright owner.

Seizure and Destruction: Courts may order the seizure and destruction of infringing copies of copyrighted works.

Criminal remidies

The court can impose a fine and imprisonment against the infringer.

►Section 63- Infringement of copyright in a work shall be punishable with minimum imprisonment of six months which may extend to three years and minimum fine of Rs.50,000/- which may extend to Rs. Two lakhs.

Where the infringement has not been made for gain in the course of trade or business the court may impose, the punishment for a term less than six months or a fine of less than fifty thousand rupees.

If any person continue offences,

►Section 63A For the second and subsequent offence, when once convicted under section 63, the minimum imprisonment would be of one year which may extend upto 3 years and fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees and may extend to three lakh rupees.

Conclusion.

The copyright act is very important for the creators of society, and its fines and punishments need to be stricter.  Because the original creator has to spend a lot of time and money doing creative works, he stops doing creative works again if the creator doesn’t get the right price or respect for it.  And there is less visibility of new ideas or actions from society.  There are many new creators in the digital time and the law needs to be innovated to protect their interests.