1. Introduction: Copyright is a right given by
the law to the creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and
producers of cinematograph films and sound recordings. In fact, it is a bundle
of rights including, inter alia, rights of reproduction, communication to the
public, adaptation and translation of the work. There could be slight
variations in the composition of the rights depending on the work.
India is a
member of the Berne Convention of 1886 (as modified at Paris in 1971), the
Universal Copyright Convention of 1951 and the Agreement on Trade Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of 1995. Though India
is not a member of the Rome Convention of 1961, WIPO Copyrights Treaty (WCT)
and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), the Copyright Act, 1957
is compliant with it.
The Copyright
Act of 1911 passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and modified in its
application to India by the Indian Copyright Act, 1914. According to this Act, the period
of copyright for photographs was 50 years from the time it was first published. This law is still applicable in India for works created prior to 21 January 1958, when the
new Copyright Act 1957 came into force.
The Copyright
Act, 1957 governs the laws & applicable rules related to the subject of
copyrights in India and it become applicable from 21 January 1958. The
Copyright Act 1957 was the first post-independence copyright legislation in
India and the law has been amended six times since 1957. The copyright was amended in 1984 in order to
overcome the problem of wide spread piracy in India. The act was further
modified in 1992 and 1994 (No. 38 of 1994). The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1999
officially published in: The Gazette of India, 30/12/1999, No. 49. The most
recent amendment was in the year 2012, through the Copyright (Amendment) Act
2012.
In accordance with the copyright act of 1957, a copyright office and a
copyright board were set up in New Delhi under the auspices of the Government
of India of which the copyright board serves as a civil court with the power of
adjudicating disputes arising out of claims and counter claims. The copyright
board serves as a civil court and its judgment can be challenged only in the
high court of the area and in no other lower court.
2. Coverage: Copyright Act 1957 covers Indian
work means a literary, dramatic or musical work the author of which is a
citizen of India or which is first published in India.
Copyright act
includes Artistic work, Musical work, Sound recording, Cinematograph film and
Government work.
In case of
Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic
works the converge is lifetime of the author + sixty years from the beginning
of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies. In case
of Anonymous and pseudonymous works, Posthumous work, Cinematograph films,
Sound records, Government work, Public
undertakings, International Agencies, Photographs the duration is until sixty years from the beginning of the
calendar years next following the year in which the work is first published.
The copyright
law of India gives moral rights to the authors of an original literary work.
Moral rights under the Indian Law have been conferred upon the authors of an
original work, and include the combination of three rights, viz. Right of
Publication; Right of Paternity; and the Right of Integrity. It is significant
to note that moral rights stand independent of the economic rights flowing
through authorial creations, and vests with the author even after the transfer
of his copyright.
Although
Government works are copyrighted, the reproduction or publication of act of a
Legislature, report of a committee, commission, council, board or other like
body appointed by the Government, judgment or order of a court, tribunal or
other judicial authority not copy protected.
3. Fair Dealing: What constitutes “fair use” is
debatable. However, there are certain factors that govern fair use A literary,
dramatic, musical or artistic work (not being a computer programme) can be used
under fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study, for criticism
or review, for reporting current events,
in connection with judicial proceeding, performance by an amateur club
or society if the performance is given to a non-paying audience, and the making of sound recordings of literary,
dramatic or musical works under certain conditions. The fair use is depend on
the following points-
a) Purpose and Character of Use: Is it for
commercial use or for non-profit educational purposes?
b) Nature of the Copyrighted Work: The fair use
principle is generally more indulgent for fact-based works than it is for
“fanciful” works, and also is broader for published works than it is for
unpublished works.
c) Amount and Substantiality: Third parameter to determine the
fair use or fair dealing is qualitative and quantitative. First of all, we have
to see the amount which has been taken out from the copyrighted work.
d) Effect of the Use: Effect of use of copyrighted
work upon the potential market would be the most important parameter to figure
out, whether any specific use of copyrighted work is fair or not.
4. Library Provisions: Section 52 in the Copyright Act, 1957 says that certain
acts not to be infringement of copyright. The making of not more than three
copies of a book (including a pamphlet, sheet of music, map, chart or plan) by
or under the direction of the person in charge of a public library for the use
of the library if such book is not available for sale in India is not an
infringement.
Libraries and archives are permitted to make up to three
copies of unpublished copyrighted works for the purposes of preservation,
security or for deposit for research use in another library or archive.
Libraries can also make up to three copies of a published work to replace a
work in their collection if it is damaged, deteriorated or lost, or the format
of which has become obsolete.
5. Fair Use and Disabled Persons: Section 52 which was added by the amendment of
2012 provides that the “adaptation, reproduction and issue of copies or
communication to the public of any work in any accessible format” to facilitate
persons with disability to access the works is not an infringement of
copyright.
6. Civil Liability: Copyright infringement is
punishable under section 63 of the Copyright Act. Any person who knowingly
infringes or abets the infringement of the copyright in a work, or any other
right conferred by the Act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to three years and
with fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees but which may
extend to two lakh rupees: Provided that the court may, for adequate and
special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of
imprisonment for a term of less than six months or a fine of less than fifty
thousand rupees.
7. Conclusion: The author or publisher of, or
the owner of or other person interested in the copyright in, any work may make
an application in the prescribed form accompanied by the prescribed fee to the
Registrar of Copyrights for entering particulars of the work in the Register of
Copyrights. On receipt of an application in respect of any work under
sub-section (1), the Registrar of Copyrights may, after holding such inquiry as
he may deem fit, enter the particulars of the work in the Register of
Copyrights.
How to Cite this
Article?
APA Citation, 7th Ed.: Barman, B. (2020). A comprehensive book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications.
Chicago 16th Ed.: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. Guwahati:
New Publications, 2020.
MLA Citation 8th Ed: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications, 2020.

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