Journal of Intellectual Property Rights

Vol 17, July 2012, pp 324-334

Overview of Changes to the Indian Copyright Law
Zakir Thomas
Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) & DGs Technical Cell, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research,
Anusandhan Bhawan, 2 Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110 001, India
Received 24 June 2012
The Copyright Amendment Act, 2012 has been enacted by the Government of India bringing changes to the Copyright
Act, 1957. The amendments make Indian copyright law compliant with the Internet Treaties, WIPO Copyright Treaty
(WCT) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). The amendments grant performers rights to performers.
While introducing technological protection measures, the law ensures that fair use survives in the digital era by providing
special fair use provisions. The amendments have gone beyond the limited mandate of WCT and WPPT and made many
author friendly amendments to streamline business practices, special provisions for disabled, amendments facilitating
access to works and other amendments to streamline copyright administration. The purpose of this paper is to narrate the
changes made in the Copyright Amendment Act. Wherever possible a brief rationale for the amendment as culled out
from the Notes on Clauses of the Copyright Amendment Bill and from the Report of the Standing Committee of
Parliament, is provided.
Keywords: Copyright law, fair use, WCT, WPPT, performers right, technological protection measure, copyright society

The Copyright Act, 1957 is the oldest extant
intellectual property right legislation in India. The Act
has been amended five times, prior to 2012, once each
in the years 1983, 1984, 1992, 1994 and 1999 to meet
with the national and international requirements.
The Act was amended extensively in 1994, wherein it
addressed the challenges posed by digitisation of works
and the Internet, although partially. The Act required
only minor changes to comply with the obligations
under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS) through the amendment made in the
year 1999. The amendments introduced by the
Copyright Amendment Act, 2012 (ref. 1), are
significant in terms of range as they address the
challenges posed by the Internet and go beyond these
challenges in their scope.
The 1980s and 1990s saw the digital revolution
sweeping the world and the advent of Internet over
the world wide web. The global community
responded to the challenges posed to the copyright
system by the Internet through two treaties framed in
1996, called WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and
WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT),
together known as the Internet treaties.
2
The treaties
address the challenges relevant to the dissemination of
protected material over digital networks such as the
Internet. The WCT deals with the protection for the
authors of literary and artistic works. The WPPT
extends copyright like protection to performers and
producers of phonograms. Many provisions in these
treaties like right of communication to the public have
been available in the Indian copyright law since the
1994 amendment.
The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 introduced
amendments to harmonise the Copyright Act, 1957
with WCT and WPPT. The Amendment Act goes
much beyond the Internet treaties and has introduced
many changes in the Copyright Act, 1957. The
amendments can be categorised into:
I Amendments to rights in artistic works,
cinematograph films and sound recordings
II WCT and WPPT related amendments to rights
III Author friendly amendments on mode of assignment
and licenses to streamline business practices
IV Amendments to facilitate access to works further
sub-classified into:
(a) Grant of compulsory licences
(b) Grant of statutory licences
(c) Administration of copyright societies
(d) Access to copyrighted works by the disabled
(e) Relinquishment of copyright
__________
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: This article is not an exhaustive statement of law or a
commentary on the amendments. It is an overview meant for
students of copyright law.
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325
V Strengthening enforcement and protecting
against Internet piracy including WCT and
WPPT related provisions
VI Reform of Copyright Board and other minor
amendments
These changes made by the Copyright Amendment
Act are discussed below in the above order. The
purpose of this paper is to narrate the changes.
Wherever possible a brief rationale for the
amendment as culled out from the Notes on Clauses
of the Copyright Amendment Bill
3
and from the
Report of the Standing Committee of Parliament
4
, is
provided.

Rights in Artistic Works, Cinematograph Films
and Sound Recordings
The amendments have made some changes that
clarify the rights in artistic works, cinematograph
films and sound recordings. These amendments
address technological issues like storing and thus
address some of the digital era challenges though not
mandated by WCT or WPPT.
Section 14 (c) relates to the exclusive rights of the
author of an artistic work. Clause (i) of this
sub-section grants the right to reproduce the work in
any material form. This clause is amended to provide
that the right to reproduce the work in any material
form includes the storing of it in any medium by
electronic or other means. The clause has been
redrafted, numbering as sub-clauses the existing right
of depiction in three dimensions of a two dimensional
work or in two dimensions of a three dimensional
work. The net effect of the amendment is the addition
of the right of storing of the work in any medium by
electronic or other means.
Section 14 (d) relates to the exclusive rights in a
cinematograph film. The existing sub-clause (i)
provides the right to make a copy of the film,
including a photograph of any image forming part
thereof. This sub-clause has been amended to extend
the rights of the author to include the storing of the
work in any medium by electronics or other means.
Similar amendments have been made to the rights in
sound recording [Section 14 (e) (i)] to clarify that
right to make copies include the storing of the work
in any medium by electronic or other means.
The inclusive language used in the amendments
clarify that the right of reproduction extends to storage
in the case of artistic works, cinematograph films and
sound recordings. In the case of literary, dramatic and
musical works, the existing clause (a) (i) of Section 14
clarifies that the right to reproduce includes storing of
the work in any medium by electronic means. The
present amendment extends this inclusive language on
right of reproduction to artistic works,
cinematograph films and sound recordings. The right
to store the work is of particular importance in a
digital environment due to the special nature of
transmission of digitised works over the Internet
where transient copies get created at multiple
locations, including over the transmitting network
and in the users computer. In a manner of speaking
it can be stated that copyright has been extended to
the right to storing of works. It also creates liability
for the Internet service providers. While adding this
clarification to rights, the Act also treats as fair use,
the transient or incidental storage and safe harbour
provisions to service providers.
The words any medium by electronic or other
means have been introduced considering the
possibility of evolution of technologies, for example,
depiction of a work using laser images (already use of
laser technology to depict artistic works is prevalent).
While looking at the words electronic or other means,
one wonders why the drafters did not simply use any
means in place of electronic and other means. In the
case of literary, dramatic and musical works, the
language in Section 14 (a) (i) remains the same, viz.,
storing of the work in any medium by electronic
means. It would have been appropriate if similar
language of electronic or other means was
introduced in this section as well.
The Act has also amended the definition of
cinematograph film (Section 2 (f)). The amended
definition reads: cinematograph film means any work
of visual recording on any medium. The Act
introduces a definition of visual recording in Clause
(xxa) to mean recording in any medium, by any
method including storing of it by electronic means, of
moving images or representations thereof, from which
they can be perceived, reproduced or communicated
by any method.
Another change introduced in the definition clause
is in communication to the public [clause 2 (ff)] to
add performance to the work being communicated.
This is consequential to the grant of the new rights to
performers. The right of communication to public is
essential to protect the work on the Internet and such
protection hitherto available for works now extends
to performances.
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WPPT and WCT Related Amendments
The Amendment to Section 14 relating to meaning
of copyright provides the right of commercial rental
to cinematograph films and sound recordings by
amending the word hire to commercial rental in
the existing provision relating to cinematograph films
[clause (d) (ii)] and sound recording [clause (e) (ii)]
with identical language providing for the right to sell
or give on commercial rental or offer for sale or for
such rental, any copy of the film or sound recording.
The obligation under Article 11 of the TRIPS
Agreement, Article 7 of WCT and Article 9 of WPPT
is to provide for commercial rental rights for
computer programme and cinematograph film. This
right was introduced in 1994 in Section 14 using the
word hire. However, keeping in view the possibility
of interpreting this term to include non-commercial
hire and lending by libraries and educational institutions,
the term hire in Section 14 (b) for computer
programme was replaced with the term commercial
rental in the 1999 Amendment. The term hire in
Section 14 (d) and (c) with regard to a cinematograph
film and sound recording respectively, is now
replaced with the term commercial rental.
The current Amendment has introduced a
definition of the term commercial rental in
Section 2(fa) of the Act as below:
Commercial rental does not include the
rental, lease or lending of a lawfully acquired
copy of a computer programme, sound
recording, visual recording or cinematograph
film for nonprofit purposes by a non-profit
library or non-profit educational institution.
Explanation.For the purposes of this clause,
a non-profit library or non-profit educational
institution means a library or educational
institution which receives grants from the
Government or is exempted from payment of tax
under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The term commercial rental is inserted with the
objective of expressly clarifying that this right is not
applicable to non-commercial activities of giving on
hire including the activities of libraries and
educational institutions. Thus, in a manner of
speaking, this amendment has also facilitated better
access to works.
This amendment substitutes the word hire with
commercial rental, but has deleted the words
regardless of whether such copy has been sold or
given on hire on earlier occasions. This deletion in
the case of both cinematograph films and sound
recordings brings in the doctrine of first sale
exhaustion to these works. It may be recalled that the
doctrine of first sale exhaustion was applicable only
to the literary, dramatic and artistic works before the
amendment.

Performers Rights
The Amendment has introduced affirmative
performers rights by amending the present Section 38
which had granted only negative rights by prohibiting
certain acts in its sub section (3) and (4). These sub
sections have been omitted and a new Section 38A
has been inserted which provides the performers right
as the exclusive right to do or authorise the doing of
any of the acts in respect of the performance, without
prejudice to the rights conferred on authors, namely:
to make a sound recording or a visual recording
of the performance or to certain acts in respect of such
recording;
to reproduce it in any material form including the
storing of it in any medium by electronic or any other
means;
to issue copies of it to the public not being copies
already in circulation;
to communicate it to the public;
to sell or give on commercial rental or offer for
sale or for commercial rental, any copy of the
recording and;
to broadcast or communicate the performance to
the public except where the performance is already a
broadcast performance.
The above section providing exclusive rights to
performers has been inserted to make it compatible
with the Articles from 6 to 10 of WPPT.
The grant of performers right will enable the
performers to earn continued royalty in their
performances which they were not entitled hitherto as
they only had a negative right to prohibit fixation of
their live performances. The negative right has now
been converted to the positive rights listed above.
A proviso has been added to the definition of
performer in Section 2(qq) which provides that in a
cinematograph film, a person whose performance is
casual or incidental in nature and, in the normal
course of practice of the industry, is not
acknowledged anywhere including the credits of the
film, shall not be treated as a performer. This
provision removes from the definition of performers a
category of incidental performers in films, popularly
called extras in Indian cinema.
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327
Performers Right of Communication to Public
The definition of communication to the public has
been amended by inserting a new definition, as below,
extending the right to performances (the changed
portions are in italics, the explanation clause remains
unchanged):
(ff) communication to the public means making
any work or performance available for being seen or
heard or otherwise enjoyed by the public directly or
by any means of display or diffusion other than by
issuing physical copies of it, whether simultaneously
or at places and times chosen individually, regardless
of whether any member of the public actually sees,
hears or otherwise enjoys the work or performance so
made available.
The amending Act thus amends the definition by
adding or performance after work and extending
communication to the public simultaneously or at
places and times chosen individually, which has
significance for performers.
It may be recalled that the right of communication
to public was introduced in the 1994 amendment to
extend the rights to Internet. These rights hitherto
limited to authors have been extended to performers
by the present amendment.

Moral Rights to Performers
A new Section 38 B grants performers moral rights
on their performances as follows:
The performer of a performance shall,
independently of his right after assignment, either
wholly or partially of his right, have the right,
(a) to claim to be identified as the performer of his
performance except where omission is dictated by the
manner of the use of the performance; and
(b) to restrain or claim damages in respect of any
distortion, mutilation or other modification of his
performance that would be prejudicial to his
reputation.
The Explanation clause to this provision clarifies
that mere removal of any portion of a performance for
the purpose of editing, or to fit the recording within a
limited duration, or any other modification required
for purely technical reasons shall not be deemed to be
prejudicial to the performers reputation.
The Copyright Act, 1957 provided for moral rights
to authors under Section 57 titled authors special
rights, though it did not use the term moral rights in
the Act. The new section provides moral rights to
performers and calls these rights moral rights in the
title. Article 5 of WPPT covers the moral rights of
performers and the amendment is in line with that
article. Moral rights have been extended to
performers, considering the possibility of digital
alteration of performances in a digital environment.
However, some amount of alteration will be
required for the purposes of editing. The
explanation to the section clarifies that editors are
free to perform their tasks without the fear of legal
consequences.

Term of Copyright of Photographs
The term of copyright in a photograph has been
made at par with other artistic works, namely, until
sixty years after the death of the author, by deleting
other than photographs in clause 22 and deleting
Section 25 which provided for a special term for
photographs (of sixty years from publication). This
amendment is consequential to Article 9 of WCT
regarding duration of protection of photographic
works.

Streamlining Business Practices
Assignment of Rights
Section 18 (1) provides that the owner of a
copyright in any work or prospective owner of a
future work may assign the copyright. The proviso to
this sub-section clarifies that in the case of future
work, assignment will come into force only when the
work comes into existence. A second proviso has
been inserted in this section by providing that no such
assignment shall apply to any mode of exploitation
that did not exist or was not known in commercial use
when the assignment was made. Another proviso
provides that the author of a literary or musical work
incorporated in a cinematograph film or sound
recording shall not assign the right to receive royalties
in any form other than as a part of the film or sound
recording.
The above amendments strengthen the position of
the author if new modes of exploitation of the work
come to exist. It may be recalled that in the eighties,
there were mostly video cassette recorders which
were played in closed environments, but with the
advent of the Internet, new models of exploitation of
the works came into existence. It is possible that with
the advent of high speed bandwidths and Internet
telephony, new modes of exploitation of the work not
contemplated at the time of assigning of works, may
yet arise.
Section 19 of the Act relates to the mode of
assignment. The sub-section (3) has been amended to
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328
provide that the assignment shall specify the other
considerations, besides royalty, if any, payable.
Therefore, it is not necessary that only monetary
compensation by way of royalty could lead to
assignment. The amendment has inserted a new
sub-section (8) to provide that any assignment of
copyright in any work contrary to that of the terms
and conditions of the rights already assigned to a
copyright society in which the author of the work is a
member, shall be deemed to be void. A new
sub-section (9) provides that no assignment of
copyright in any work to make a cinematograph film
or sound recording shall affect the right of the author
of the work to claim royalties in case of utilization of
the work in any form other than as part of
cinematograph film or sound recording.
Section 19A relates to disputes with respect to
assignment of copyright. This section provides that on
receipt of a complaint from an aggrieved party, the
Copyright Board may hold inquiry and pass orders as
it may deem fit, including an order for the recovery of
any royalty payable. Second proviso is amended to
provide that pending disposal of an application for
revocation of assignment, the Copyright Board may
pass any order as it deems fit regarding
implementation of the terms and conditions of
assignment.

Mode of Licences by Owners of Copyright
Section 30 relating to licences by owners of
copyright provides that the owner of copyright in any
existing work or prospective owner of copyright in
any future work may grant any interest in the right by
licence in writing signed by him or his duly
authorised agent. This section is amended by deleting
the term signed.

Facilitating Access to Works
Compulsory Licences
Section 31 of the Act deals with compulsory
licences of works withheld from public. This section
provides that if the owner of copyright in any Indian
work has refused to republish or allow the
republication or has refused the performance in public
of the work and withheld the work from the public or
has refused to allow communication to the public by
broadcast of the work recorded in sound recording,
the Copyright Board may, on the basis of a complaint
received and after such inquiry as it may deem
necessary, direct the Registrar of Copyrights to grant
to the complainant, a licence.
Applicability of this section is amplified from
Indian work to any work. Explanation relating to
the definition of Indian work is also omitted. The
word complainant is replaced with the words such
person or persons who, in the opinion of the
Copyright Board, is or are qualified to do so.
Sub-section (2) is omitted so as to enable the
Copyright Board to grant compulsory licence to more
than one person.
By virtue of the above amendment, compulsory
licences can be obtained for any work withheld from
the public and not just Indian works and the licence
can be granted to such persons as the Board may
decide.
Section 31A relates to compulsory licences in
unpublished Indian works. The section has been
amended to allow compulsory licences to any
unpublished work or any work published or
communicated to the public where the work is
withheld from the public in India and in cases where
the author is dead or unknown or the owner cannot be
traced.
Special provisions have been provided for
compulsory licensing of the works for the disabled by
inserting Section 31B.

Statutory Licences
For Cover Versions
A new Section 31C provides for statutory licence
to any person desiring to make a cover version of a
sound recording in respect of any literary, dramatic or
musical work. This is not totally a new provision for
statutory licence for cover version as it is, but a
replacement of Section 52 (1) (j) as it stood before the
amendment.
The person making the sound recording shall give
to the owner prior notice of his intention in the
prescribed manner, provide the copies of all covers or
labels with which the version is supposed to be sold,
and pay in advance the royalty at the rate fixed by the
Copyright Board. Such sound recordings can be made
only after the expiration of 5 years after publication of
the original sound recording. There is a requirement
of payment of a minimum royalty for 50,000 copies
of the work during each calendar year.

For Broadcasters
A new Section 31 D provides for statutory licence
for broadcasting of literary and musical works and
sound recordings. It provides that any broadcasting
organization desiring to broadcast a work including
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329
sound recording may do so. The broadcasting
organization shall give prior notice to the right
holders, pay royalty as fixed by the Copyright Board
in advance. The names of the authors and principal
performers shall be announced during the broadcast.
The broadcasting organization shall maintain records
of the broadcast, books of account and render to the
owner such records and books of account.
The above amendment has been brought in to
facilitate access to the works for the growing
broadcasting industry. At present, the access to
copyright works by broadcasters was dependent on
voluntary licensing. As a result unreasonable terms
and conditions were being set by the copyright
societies and owners. There are divergent views by
the courts in interpreting the existing compulsory
licensing provisions under Section 31. There were
litigations pending before various High Courts as well
as the Copyright Board regarding the nature of licence
and the rate of royalties to be paid when works
particularly songs were used for broadcasting.
Automatic licence or non-voluntary licence such as
the proposed statutory licence ensuring adequate
return to the owner of works was the best solution to
make access easy for broadcasting industry.

Administration of Copyright
Copyright Societies
Registration
Sections 33, 34 and 35 of the Act relate to the
registration and functioning of a copyright society.
Amendments have been carried out in these sections
to streamline the functioning of the copyright
societies. All copyright societies will have to register
afresh under these provisions.
Every copyright society already registered before
the coming into force of the Copyright (Amendment)
Act, 2012 shall get itself registered under the new
provisions within a period of one year from the date
of commencement of the Copyright (Amendment)
Act, 2012. The registration granted to a copyright
society under Section 33 (3) shall be for a period of
five years and may be renewed from time to time. The
renewal of the registration of a copyright society shall
be subject to the continued collective control of the
copyright society being shared with the authors of
works in their capacity as owners of copyright or of
the right to receive royalty.
There are specific amendments to protect the
interests of the authors. In Section 35, the phrase
owners of rights has been substituted with authors
and other owners of right. The section has been
amended to provide that every copyright society shall
have a governing body with such number of persons
elected from among the members of the society
consisting of equal number of authors and owners of
work for the purpose of the administration of the
society. Section 35 (4) provides that all members of a
copyright society shall enjoy equal membership rights
and there shall be no discrimination between authors
and owners of rights in the distribution of royalties.

Tariff Scheme of Copyright Societies
A new Section 33A has been inserted in the Act
providing for tariff schemes by copyright societies.
The section mandates that every copyright society
shall publish its tariff scheme in such manner as may
be laid down by rules. Any aggrieved person may
appeal against the tariff scheme to the Copyright
Board which may, after holding enquiry, make orders
to remove any unreasonable element, anomaly or
inconsistency therein. The aggrieved person shall
continue to pay such fee that was due before making
the appeal until the appeal is decided and the Board
shall not stay the collection of such fee pending
disposal of the appeal. However, the Board may, after
hearing the parties, fix interim tariff to be paid by the
aggrieved party.
The objective of this provision is to introduce a
system of transparent formulation of a tariff scheme
by the copyright societies, which would be subject to
scrutiny by the Copyright Board. Previously, there
was no provision to govern or regulate fixation,
collection and distribution of royalties under Section 33
of the Act. As a result, the tariff scheme of the
copyright societies was often a matter of controversy
between owner of rights and users. In the absence of a
transparent tariff scheme, copyright societies were
often found indulging in arm-twisting negotiations,
resulting into different agreements with different
companies. Therefore, a system for formulation of
tariff scheme by the copyright societies has been
introduced.

Fair Use Provisions
Section 52 of the Act enumerates the acts that will
not be infringement of copyright. These are popularly
known as fair use clauses. Certain amendments have
been made to extend these provisions in the general
context. The existing clause (1) (a) of this section
provides fair use to literary, dramatic, musical or
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330
artistic works only. This clause has been amended to
provide fair dealing with any work, not being a
computer programme, for the purposes of private and
personal use. With this amendment, the fair use
provision has been extended to cinematograph and
musical works. Fair use on the above lines has been
extended by amendment to bring in the word any
work to reproduction in the course of judicial
proceedings (d); reproduction or publication of any
work prepared by secretariat of a legislature (e);
in certified copies supplied as per law (f).
A new clause 52 (1) (w) provides that the making
of a three dimensional object from a two dimensional
work, such as a technical drawing, for industrial
application of any purely functional part of a useful
device shall not constitute infringement. This
provision should help reverse engineering of
mechanical devices.
A new clause 52 (zc) has been introduced to
provide that importation of literary or artistic works
such as labels, company logos or promotional or
explanatory material that is incidental to products or
goods being imported shall not constitute
infringement. This clause supports the
parallel import provisions embedded in the Trade
Marks Act, 1999.
Clauses (zb) and (zc) provide for fair dealing in
the use of disabled persons. This is discussed
separately later.

Fair Use in Digital Works
Fair use provisions have been extended to the
digital environment. Any transient and incidental
storage of any work through the process of caching
has been provided exceptions as per the international
practice. Any deliberate storing of such works and
unauthorized reproduction and distribution of such
works is an infringement under Section 51 of the Act
attracting civil and criminal liability. Exceptions
under this section have been extended to education
and research purposes as works are available in digital
formats and in the Internet. The scope of these
provisions ensures that introduction of new
technology will also be covered under this new
section.
An explanation has been inserted to clause (1) (a)
of Section 52 to clarify that storing of any work in any
electronic medium for the specified purposes,
including the incidental storage of a computer
programme which in itself is not an infringing copy,
shall not be an infringement.
A new clause (b) in Section 52 seeks to provide
that transient and incidental storage of a work or
performance purely in the technical process of
electronic transmission or communication to the
public shall not constitute an infringement
of copyright. Similarly, clause (c) provides that
transient and incidental storage of a work
or performance for the purposes of providing
electronic links, access or integration, where such
links, access or integration has not been expressly
prohibited by the right holder, shall not constitute
infringement.
To facilitate digitisation of libraries, a new clause (n)
has been introduced to enable the storage of a digital
copy of a work if the library possesses a non digital
version of it.

Notice and Take Down Procedures
The unauthorised use of copyright work over the
Internet leads to suspension of the service providers
activity. The new clause (c) of Section 52 while
providing for fair use exemption for transient or
incidental storage of works, also provides for the
Internet service providers liability when read with the
addition of rights of storage and definition of
infringement. A proviso has been added to this clause
to provide a safe harbour as per international norms to
Internet service providers, as they are merely carriers
of information provided by others. This is generally
referred to as notice and take down procedure. If the
person responsible for the storage of the copy has
received a written complaint from the owner of
copyright in the work, that the transient or incidental
storage is an infringement, such person responsible
for the storage shall refrain from facilitating such
access for a period of twenty-one days or till he
receives an order from the competent court refraining
from facilitating access. In case no such order is
received before the expiry of such period of twenty-
one days, he may continue to provide the facility of
such access.

Special Provisions for Access to the Disabled
A two pronged approach has been adopted to
facilitate access to the disabled. A fair use provision
has been added in Section 52 to provide exemption
from copyright for preparation of work in special
formats such as Braille. A compulsory licence has
been provided for creation of work in such formats by
business entities to whom the exemption under
Section 52 may not apply.
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Compulsory Licence for the Disabled
A new Section 31 B has been introduced to
provide compulsory licence in works for the benefit
of the disabled. Any person working for the benefit
of persons with disability on a profit basis or for
business may apply to the Copyright Board for a
compulsory licence to publish any work in which
copyright subsists for the benefit of such persons.
The section further clarifies that the licence is
available only in a case to which clause (zb) of sub-
section (1) of Section 52 does not apply and the
Copyright Board shall dispose of such application
within a period of two months from the date of
receipt of the application. Every compulsory licence
issued under this section shall specify the means and
format of publication, the period during which the
compulsory licence may be exercised and the
number of copies that may be issued including the
rate or royalty.

Fair Use Rights for the Disabled
A new clause (zb) has been added to Section 52 (1)
providing for fair use of the work for the benefit of
the disabled. The clause provides for the adaptation,
reproduction, issue of copies or communication to the
public of any work in any accessible format, to
facilitate persons with disability to access works
including sharing with any person with disability, for
private or personal use, educational purpose or
research. These rights are available to any person or
organization working for the benefit of the persons
with disabilities. The proviso to the clause mandates
that the copies of the works in such accessible format
are made available to the persons with disabilities on
a non-profit basis and only the cost of production
could be recovered from them. Such organization
shall ensure that the copies of works in such
accessible format are used only by persons with
disabilities and should take reasonable steps to
prevent their entry into ordinary channels of
business.

Easier Relinquishment of Copyright
Section 21 deals with the right of author to
relinquish copyright. The author of the work
may relinquish all or any of the rights comprised
in the copyright in the work by giving notice in
the prescribed form to the Registrar of Copyrights.
The sub-section (2) mandated that the Registrar
shall cause the notice to be published in the
Official Gazette. This procedure is arguably
cumbersome.
Sub-section 1 has been amended to facilitate
relinquishment of copyright either by giving notice to
the Registrar of Copyrights or by way of public
notice. With this amendment, authors have the right
to relinquish copyright through public notice.
Sub-section 2 has also been amended to provide that
in cases where Registrar receives such a notice, he
shall, within 14 days of publication of the notice in
the official gazette, post the notice on the official
website of the Copyright Office so as to remain in
the public domain for a period of not less than
three years.

Strengthening Enforcement and Protecting
Against Internet Piracy
Strengthening of Border Measures
Section 53 of the Act dealing with importation of
infringing copies has been substituted with a new
section providing detailed border measures to
strengthen enforcement of rights by making
provision to control import of infringing copies by
the Customs Department, disposal of infringing
copies and presumption of authorship under civil
remedies.
The section provides that the owner of copyright
of any work or any performance embodied in such
work, or his duly authorised agent, may give notice
in writing to the Commissioner of Customs, or to
any other officer authorised in this behalf by the
Central Board of Excise and Customs requesting the
Commissioner for a period specified in the notice,
not exceeding one year, to treat infringing copies of
the work as prohibited goods, and that infringing
copies of the work are expected to arrive in India at a
time and a place specified in the notice. After
examination of evidence so furnished, the
Commissioner may pass an order treating the
infringing goods as prohibited goods. When any
such goods are detained, the Customs officer shall
inform the importer as well as the person who gave
notice of the detention of such goods within forty-
eight hours of their detention. The Customs officer
shall release the goods, and they shall no longer be
treated as prohibited goods, if the person who gave
notice does not produce any order from a court
having jurisdiction as to the temporary or permanent
disposal of such goods within fourteen days from the
date of their detention.
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332
Protection of Technological Measures
A new Section 65A has been introduced to
provide for protection of technological measures
used by a copyright owner to protect his rights on
the work. Any person who circumvents an effective
technological measure applied for the protecting
any of the rights, with the intention of infringing
such rights, shall be punishable with imprisonment
which may extend to two years and shall also be
liable to fine.
Sub-section 2 provides for some exceptions. The
prohibition shall not prevent doing anything for a
purpose not expressly prohibited by the Act (thus
enabling enjoyment of fair use provisions). However,
any person facilitating circumvention by another
person of a technological measure for such a purpose
shall maintain a complete record of such other person
including his name, address and all relevant
particulars necessary to identify him and the purpose
for which he has been facilitated. Exception is
available for doing anything necessary to conduct
encryption research or conducting any lawful
investigation; or doing anything necessary for the
purpose of testing the security of a computer system
or a computer network with the authorization of its
owner or operator; or doing anything necessary to
circumvent technological measures intended for
identification or surveillance of a user; or taking
measures necessary in the interest of national
security.
The above provision emanates from Article 11 of
WCT and Article 18 of WPPT. The rationale is to
prevent the possibility of high rate of infringement
(digital piracy) in the digital media. Digital locks
(technological protection measures - popularly known
as TPMs) were invented to prevent infringement of
works. At the same time, circumvention technologies
to overcome the TPMs were also developed to unlock
the digital locks used by owners of copyright to
prevent infringement. Sub-section (1) makes such
circumvention a criminal offence punishable with
imprisonment. The use of TPM had a significant
impact on users since the freedom to use the work
(fair use of works) permitted by law was considerably
regulated through these measures. In the absence of
the owner of the works providing the key to enjoy fair
use, the only option was to circumvent the technology
to enjoy fair use of works. The major problem of use
of law in preventing circumvention was the impact on
public interest on access to work facilitated by the
copyright laws. This is the logic of sub-section (2)
permitting circumvention for the specified uses. The
Standing Committee of the Parliament which
examined the legislation in its report stated that many
terms in this section have been consciously left
undefined, given the complexities faced in defining
these terms in the laws of developed countries. It also
stated that the approach enshrined in Section 65 A is
to give limited legislative guidelines and allow the
judiciary to evolve the law based on practical
situations, keeping in mind the larger public interest
of facilitating access to work by the public.

Digital Rights Management Information
A new Section 65B has been introduced to
provide protection of rights management
information. Sub-section (1) provides, Any person,
who knowingly (i) removes or alters any rights
management information without authority,
or (ii) distributes, imports for distribution, broadcasts
or communicates to the public, without authority,
copies of any work, or performance knowing that
electronic rights management information has been
removed or altered without authority, shall be
punishable with imprisonment which may extend to
two years and shall also be liable to fine. The
proviso to the clause states that if the rights
management information has been tampered with in
any work, the owner of copyright in such work may
also avail of civil remedies against the persons
indulging in such acts.
This amendment conforms to Article 12 of WCT
and Article 19 of the WPPT relating to rights
management information. The rationale of the
protection emanates from the practice in the digital
world to manage the rights through online contracts
governing the terms and conditions of use. However,
these can be removed. The amendment is intended to
prevent the removal of the rights management
information without authority and distributing any
work, fixed performance or phonogram, after removal
of rights management information. It provides for
punishment for such acts.
The protection of technological measures and
rights management information were introduced in
WCT and WPPT as effective measures to prevent
infringement of copyright in digital environment. The
introduction of Sections 65 A and 65 B is expected to
help the film, music and publishing industry in
fighting piracy.
THOMAS: OVERVIEW OF CHANGES TO THE INDIAN COPYRIGHT LAW


333
Administrative and Other Amendments
Copyright Board
Section 11 relating to the constitution of the
Copyright Board has been amended to make it a body
consisting of a Chairman and two members. Earlier,
the Board had strength of upto 14 members. A
provision has also been introduced for payment of
salaries and allowances to the members of the Board.
This is a welcome change. The current practice has
been to appoint the Law Secretaries from State
Governments, some Directors of National Law
Schools on a rotation basis. This practice does not
lead to development of specialization.
During the last few decades, the nature of activities
handled by the Copyright Board has changed
significantly. Many issues dealt with by the Copyright
Board go beyond mere registration of copyright. It
extends to compulsory licences and assignments in
complex areas such as broadcasting requiring
sufficient knowledge and skill. The Standing
Committee of the Parliament which discussed the
Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010 as it was tabled in
the Rajya Sabha, also suggested changes in the
Copyright Board considering the multifarious
responsibilities it is now called upon to discharge.
This reformist approach is timely.

Other Amendments
Section 15 of the Act relating to copyright in
designs has been amended to accommodate the
Designs Act, 2000, consequent to introduction of
the new Act to protect industrial designs. Similarly,
amendments have been carried out in Section 45 to
make changes consequential to the Trade Marks
Act, 1999.
Section 66 relates to disposal of infringing copies
by a court of law. The existing provision mandates the
courts to deliver the infringing copies to the owner of
copyright. A welcome amendment has been made in
this section enabling the courts to make order
regarding disposal of such copies. The reason is that
in many cases owners of copyrights lose interest in
obtaining the copies and in such situations courts will
have to make appropriate orders relating to disposal
of the infringing copies.

Conclusion
Broadly the amendments strengthen the rights of
the authors, streamline the process of assignment and
grant of licences, facilitate better access to works, and
extend fair use provisions, in general and in particular
to the Internet. The changes made in the provisions of
assignment and licensing and in copyright societies
are expected to streamline business practices but has
an underlying concern about protecting authors
interests. There are also welcome reforms to
administration of copyright societies and the
Copyright Board. Overall the amendments have the
signature of a reformist approach.
One issue which was much discussed but was left
unresolved is the issue of parallel imports. The
Amendment Bill as originally introduced had a
provision of international exhaustion which enabled
parallel imports. The Standing Committee in its
report recommended this provision. The Human
Resources Minister who piloted the Bill made a
statement in the Parliament that he has
commissioned a study on the impact of parallel
imports by the National Council for Applied
Economic Research and that he shall get back to the
house after studying its report. This is one pending
issue in the copyright law. However, a fair use
provision has been introduced to facilitate the
parallel import provisions contained in the Patent
Act, 1970 and the Trademarks Act, 1999.
Though WCT and WPPT were concluded in 1996,
the adoption of these treaties as national legislation
had taken some time. Each treaty had to be ratified by
30 countries before their entry into force. The WCT
entered into force on 6 March 2002, and the WPPT,
on 20 May 2002 (ref. 5). The United States had
implemented these provisions through Digital
Millennium Copyright Act in 2000 and European
Union Directive adopted its provisions in Europe.
There was intense debate on the impact of extending
digital protection on fair use. Many, including this
author
6
had advocated a cautious approach in
implementing these provisions. With the present
amendments, India is one of the few countries which
have extended fair use rights to the digital era,
through legislation.
Overall the amendments introduced by The
Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 are forward
looking, which will enable Copyright Act, 1957 to
retain its claim to be one of the best copyright
legislations in the world.

Notice of Copyright
The author relinquishes his copyright in this article
by way of this public notice under Section 21 of the
Copyright Act, 1957; authors moral rights remain.
J INTELLEC PROP RIGHTS, JULY 2012


334
References
1 http://copyright.gov.in/Documents/CRACT_AMNDMNT_2
012.pdf (1 June 2012).
2 India has been a party to the negotiations concluding the
Treaties. For a detailed analysis of the Treaties, Ayyar R V V,
The process and politics of a diplomatic conference on
copyright, Journal of World Intellectual Property, 1 (1)
(1998) 3-35.
3 The Bill was originally introduced as Copyright Amendment
Bill, 2010 in Rajya Sabha. Many clauses of the Bill
underwent changes during the legislative process. Therefore
the Notes on Clauses of the Bill as it introduced has limited
value, although it gives the rationale behind many clauses of
the Act was it has been passed since the Notes on Clauses of
the Bill as enacted is not available,
http://copyright.gov.in/Documents/CopyrightAmendmentBill
2010.pdf (2 June 2012).
4 http://copyright.gov.in/Documents/227-Copyrightamendment.
pdf (2 June 2012). It is interesting to note that the Act has a
number of variations from the recommendations of the
Standing Committee.
5 The advantages of adherence to the WIPO Copyright Treaty
(WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms
Treaty (WPPT), http://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/activities/
wct_wppt/pdf/advantages_wct_wppt.pdf (1 June 2012).
6 Thomas Zakir, Digital technologies and emerging copyright
scenario, Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, 8 (4)
(2003) 276-301.