The Indian Copyright Act
The Copyright Act, 1957 came into force from January 1958 and it essentially considered being the extension of the British Copyright Act, 1911 to India. This Act has been amended six times since then, i.e., in 1983, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1999 and 2012 with the amendment of 1994 and 2012 considered to be most substantial and ground breaking.
Copyright is a branch of intellectual property rights that protects original works of authorship. A copyright over some material generally implies that the copyright owner has the exclusive right:
• To reproduce the work
• To issue copies of the work to the public
• To perform the work in public
• To communicate the work to the public.
• To make cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work
• To make any translation of the work
• To make any adaptation of the work.
Copyrights are granted for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. Software codes fall within the ambit of literary production.It is a myth that content must be notified as copyrighted for it to actually be so. Copyright accrues by virtue of authorship, which means that regardless of whether there is a public indication of copyright or the copyright has been registered, the exclusive rights of the author exists. SECTION 52
Certain acts are not considered to be infringement of copyright.
1. A fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work not being a computer programme for the purposes of-
-private use including research;
-criticism or review, whether of that work or any other work
2. The making of copies or adaptation of a computer programme by the lawful possessor of a copy of such computer programme from such copy-
-in order to utilize the computer programme for the purpose for which it was supplied; or
-to make backup copies purely as a temporary protection against loss, destruction or damage in order only to utilize the computer programme for the purpose for which it was supplied.
Fair dealing The
Copyright is a branch of intellectual property rights that protects original works of authorship. A copyright over some material generally implies that the copyright owner has the exclusive right:
• To reproduce the work
• To issue copies of the work to the public
• To perform the work in public
• To communicate the work to the public.
• To make cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work
• To make any translation of the work
• To make any adaptation of the work.
Copyrights are granted for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. Software codes fall within the ambit of literary production.It is a myth that content must be notified as copyrighted for it to actually be so. Copyright accrues by virtue of authorship, which means that regardless of whether there is a public indication of copyright or the copyright has been registered, the exclusive rights of the author exists. SECTION 52
Certain acts are not considered to be infringement of copyright.
1. A fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work not being a computer programme for the purposes of-
-private use including research;
-criticism or review, whether of that work or any other work
2. The making of copies or adaptation of a computer programme by the lawful possessor of a copy of such computer programme from such copy-
-in order to utilize the computer programme for the purpose for which it was supplied; or
-to make backup copies purely as a temporary protection against loss, destruction or damage in order only to utilize the computer programme for the purpose for which it was supplied.
Fair dealing The