yrighted material easy and cheap.

Accordingly, Indian copyright owners can protect their copyright in almost any country in the world. The
appropriate actions taken under the Copyright Act 1957 can stop the infringement of copyright.
Infringement of copyright is also an offense punishable with imprisonment and fine.

DEVELOPMENT OF COPYRIGHT LAWS IN INDIA

The Indian Copyright law was developed in 3 phases:

1. Early Phase: - In 1911, the earliest statutory law on copyright was made under the administration
of British rule. The provisions of the Berne convention were followed. During that phase, the term
of copyright was for the lifetime of the author plus 7 years after his death and the government
could grant a compulsory license to publish a book. The registration was also made necessary in
1914.
2. Modern Phase: - Copyright Act of 1911 was again amended in 1914 and it was also called
modern copyright legislation. For the very first time criminal sanction was introduced in act for
infringement of copyright. The term of the copyright was fixed for 10 years from the date of its
first publication. This act remained applicable until replaced by Copyright Act, 1957.
3. 1957 Phase: - The Act was enacted after the independence of the nation from British rule. It was
the first enactment of intellectual property laws. It came into force on 21 st January 1958. Major
provisions of act were adopted by the Berne convention of protection of literary and artistic work,
1886.
This act is amended 6 times till now to align with rapid changes in society and provisions of
international treaties i.e. Berne Convention, UCC, TRIPs Agreement.

SUBJECT MATTER OF COPYRIGHT, ECONOMICS AND

MORAL RIGHTS
Modern copyright laws serve to protect a variety of intellectual property ranging from songs and jingles to
computer software and proprietary databases. All subject matters protected by copyright are called
‘works’. Thus according to Section 13 of The Copyright Act 1957, it may be subjected to the following
works:
Clause (a) of this Section 13 provides the definition of original work whereas clause (b) and (c) provides
secondary works.
1. Primary Works
a. Original Literary Work,
b. Original Dramatic work,
c. Original Musical work,
d. Original Artistic Work,
2. Secondary Works
a. Cinematography films, and
b. Sound recordings.

Original Literary Works:

Section 2(o) of the Copyright Act, 1957 provides an inclusive definition of word literary works according
to which the literary work includes computer programming, tablets, and compilations including computer
database. These cover published works including books, articles, journals, and periodicals, as well as
manuscripts. Even adaptations, translations, and abridgements are taken as original works and are
protected under copyright law. Section 13(a) classify literary works in the primary work.

Case: Zee Telefilms v. Sundial Communications

Facts: A had prepared concept notes for the purpose of television film which consists of characters, plots,
notes and sketches etc.
Issues: Whether A is entitled to the copyright of those concept notes?
Held: Yes, since A invests labour and skill in preparing the concept paper. Such a person is entitled to
copyright.

Case: Macmillan & Co. v. K.J Cooper

Facts: Plaintiff’s book consisted of selected passages from Plutarch’s life of Alexander the Great, joined
together by a few words to give a different appearance. The book also contained an introduction and notes
useful for education. A similar book was published by the defendants with notes. The original work
contained 40,000 words while the defendants had copied 20,000 words and 7000 words in notes.
Issue: Whether the defendants work infringed the copyright in the plaintiff’s works?
Held: Defendants work infringed the copyright

Original Dramatic Works:

According to section 2(h) of the Copyright Act, 1957, the dramatic work includes any piece for recitation,
choreographic work or entertainment in dumb shows, the scenic arrangement or acting form which is fixed
in writing or otherwise but does not include a cinematographic film. Since the definition is an inclusive
one, the other things fall within the general meaning of dramatic work, and may also be covered by the
definition.
Case: Academy of General Education Manipal v. Malini Mallya
The court shows a clear difference between literary and dramatic work. The difference between the two
rests on the fact that literary work allows itself to be read while a dramatic work “forms the text upon
which the performance of the plays rests.” A dance performance will not be covered under copyright work
but under dramatic work.
Case: Creation Records v. New Group Newspaper
Held: It was held that a photograph that involves no movement or action cannot be treated as dramatic
work. Copyright of Dramatic work can in form of:
Adaption of Dramatic work:- Adaptation work means the modification of that work in some other form.
Original Musical Works:
According to section 2(p) of the Copyright Act, 1957, musical work means any work consisting of music
and includes any graphical notion of such work, but does not include any words or any action intended to
be sung, spoken or performed with the music. The words in a song and the music have separate rights and
the rights cannot be merged. In order to qualify for copyright protection, a musical work must be original.
Example:- Famous song “Yaaram” which is written by Gulzar and composed by Vishal Bharadwaj. The
copyright of the lyrics will belong to Gulzar and the musical composition will be of the composer Vishal
Bharadwaj.

Original Artistic Works:

According to the section 2(c) of the Copyright Act, 1957, the artistic work includes any painting, sculpture,
drawing, engraving photograph of any work possessing artistic qualities. However, it also includes the
architecture and artistic craftsmanship of such works.
Case: Associated publishers vs Bashyam
Facts: A portrait of Mahatma Gandhi was made based on two photographs.
Held: A portrait based on photographs will be entitled to copyright if it produced a result from the
photograph and the portrait itself is original.
Example: A photographer took a photograph of a painting of MF Hussain, then paints the same himself
and sells such copies painted by him.
Held: A copyright in a painting is infringed when a person copies from the original painting or a picture of
painting.
Cinematographic Films
Section 2(f) of the Copyright Act, 1957 defines cinematographic films which include any work of visual
recording and a sound recording accompanying such visual recording and the expression cinematograph
shall be construed as including any work produced by any process analogous to cinematographic including
video films. It is classified into secondary works as suggested in clause (b) of section 13 of the act.
Case: R.G. Anand vs Delux Films
Facts: Plaintiff was a producer and play writer of play ‘Hum Hindustani’. The plaintiff tried to consider
the possibility of filming and narrated the play to the defendant. The defendant, without informing the
plaintiff, made the picture ‘New Delhi’ which was alleged to be based on the said play.
Issue: Whether the film ‘New Delhi’ was an infringement of the plaintiff’s copyright in play ‘Hum
Hindustani’?
Held: No, because the stories were different, only the theme “love story” was same.
Case: Balwinder Singh vs Delhi Administration
Held: The concept of cinematograph is not only limited to movies being played in theater it also covers
videos and television, they both fall under the preview of cinematograph film.
Level of Originality:

A television report or documentary may be based upon a live incident or a newspaper report, thus the act
does not prescribe any specified level of originality in the cinematographic film.

Sound Recordings:

According to section 2(xx) of The Copyright Act, 1957, sound recording suggests that a recording of
sounds from which that sound may be produced regardless of the medium on which such recording is
made or the method by which the sounds are produced. Clause (c) of section 13 of the act state sound
recordings as a by-product works.
Case: Gramophone Co. India v. Super Cassette Industries
Facts: ‘G.co’, Plaintiff, produced audio records titled ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ by Rajashree production
ltd, who were the owners of cinematographic work. They had already sold 55 lakhs audio cassettes and
40,000 compact discs titled ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’. The defendants too launched an audio cassette by
adopting the same title with its design, color scheme, get up and layout deceptively similar. Permanent
Injunction was sought.
Held: Injunction varied by stipulating not to use the same title, design colour scheme etc with bold letters
the record is a version of different artists.
RIGHTS OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER
In the Copyright Act, 1957, the owner possesses the rights which are to prevent others from using his
works in certain ways and to claim compensation for the usurpation of that right. In this Act, there are two
types of rights given to the owner:
 Economical rights;
 Moral rights.

Economic rights
This right is also known as the Exclusive Rights of the copyright holder provided under Section 14 of the
Act. In this Act different types of work come with different types of rights. Such as:

1. In the case of original literary, musical, and dramatic work:

 Right to reproduce;
 Right to issue copies;
 Right to perform at public;
 Right to make cinematography and sound recording;
 Right to make any translation;
 Right to adaptation; and
 Right to do any other activities related to the translation or adaptation.
 2. In the case, of computer program work:
 Right to do any act aforesaid mentioned; and
 Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work.

3. In the case of artistic work:

 Right to reproduce;
 Right to communicate;
 Right to issue copies;
 Right to make any cinematography and sound recording;
 Right to make an adaptation; and
 Right to do any other activities related to the translation or adaptation.

4. In case of a cinematograph film work:

 Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work; and
 Right to communicate.
5. In the case of a sound recording work:
 Right to communicate;
 Right to issue copies; and
 Right to sell, rent, offer for sale of the copyrighted work.

Moral rights
In addition to the protection of economic rights, the Copyright Act, 1957 conjointly protects ethical rights,
that is due to the actual fact that a literary or inventive work reflects the temperament of the creator, just as
much as the economic rights reflect the author’s need to keep the body and the soul of his work out from
commercial exploitation and infringement. These rights are supported by Article 6 of the Berne
Convention of 1886, formally referred to as a world convention for the protection of literary and inventive
works, whose core provision relies on the principle of national treatment, i.e. treats the opposite good as
one’s own.
Section 57 of The Copyright Act, of 1957 recognizes two types of moral rights which are:
 Right to paternity– which incorporates the right to assert the authorship of the work, and the
right to forestall others from claiming authorship of his work; and
 Right to integrity- which incorporates the right to restrain, or claim damages in respect of any
distortion, modification, mutilation, or any other act relating to the said work if such distortion,
multiplication, or alternative act would be prejudiced to claimant honor or name.

AUTHORSHIP AND OWNERSHIP IN COPYRIGHT

Section 17 of this Act recognizes the author as the first owner, which states that subject to the provision of
this Act, the author of a work shall be the first owner of the copyright therein:
 In the case of literary or dramatic composition, the author,
 In the case of musical work, the musician,
 In the case of creative work apart from photography, the artist,
 In the case of photographic work, the artist,
 In the case of cinematographic or recording work, the producer,
 In case of any work generated by any computer virus, the one who created it.
However, this provision provided to bound exception:
 In case of creation is made by the author underemployment of the proprietor of any newspaper,
magazine or any periodic, the said proprietor,
 In the case where a photograph is taken, painting or portrait is drawn, a cinematograph is made for
the valuable consideration of any person, such person,
 In case of work done in the course of the author’s employment under the contract of service, such
employer,
 In case of address or speech delivered on behalf of another person in public, such person,
 In the case of government works, the government,
 In the case of work done under the direction and control of public undertaking such public
undertaking, such and
 In the case of work done in which the provision of Section 41 apply, concerned international
organizations.