ALL ABOUT COPYRIGHT ACT, 1999 INTRODUCTION In the rapidly developing country like India copyright is one of the unique kind of intellectual property .in general sense this act provides a right to the owner and gives protection to its literary, dramatic , musical , artistic work , cinematographic films and sound recordings . As we know that higher the level of protection automatically means high the level of encouragement for creating new things and higher the level of satisfaction. The copyright act, 1957 was introduced which was enforced on 21st January 1958 and it extends to whole of India, which was further amended time to time with the emergence need of society recently copyright act was amended in year 2012 . MEANING According to copyright act, 1957 Section 14 of the act defines copyright as; The exclusive right to do or authorise other(s) to do certain acts in relation to – Literary, dramatic or musical works ; Artistic work; Cinematographic films ; and Sound recording According to Black Law Dictionary Copyright is an intangible incorporeal right granted to the author or originator of certain literary or artistic production whereby he has invested for a specified period with the sole and exclusive privilege of publishing and selling its work.
In general sense Copyright is a sole right which is exclusively provided to the owner or creator of the work and gives him right for a certain specified period of selling it and have advantage of the same. ORIGIN OF TRADEMARK The idea of copyright protection was started with an invention of printing press in year 1436 by Gutenberg in Germany. Because of this invention the art of printing was spreading quickly in Europe, so the need was felt for the protection of rights of authors, publishers and printers also. In the year 1483 King Richard 3 allowed foreigners to import manuscript and books into England and print them there. In 1523 and 1528 Henry 7 imposed restriction and prohibited the import of goods on the ground that they were encouraging stationers and book binders. Wherever in 1556 a royal charter was granted to the stationers company which for the first time provides the right to administer the system of private registration of all published work.
Thus all the books which are already printed or reprinted or going to print in future had to enter into the register of company In 1662 for the first time in England the licensing act was passed with the purpose prohibiting the printing of any book which was not licensed and registered with the previous stationary act. The law was basically for protecting literary copyright and aimed for checking piracy. It was the first law with a clear vision that if any infringement then this act has power for seizure and confiscation of the unauthorised copies and also imposes the penalty of fine. This act was repealed shortly in 1679.
In 1709 the act of Queen Anne was passed in the United Kingdom. This law for the first time in history laid down the 3 basic rules for the protection of copyright laws such as; Firstly the author of books not yet printed were having exclusive sole right of printing for a term period of 14 years from the date of publication however after the expiry of 14 years the right of printing returns to the author for another 14 years. Secondly penalty is imposed upon infringers. If any infringing book is found in their custody it would be forfeited and has to pay fine of penny for every sheet. No suit could be brought unless the title of the book had been entered before publication in the register book of the stationers company act. Further in 1911 copyright act, 1911 was introduced and repealed near about 20 legislation on the same subject and this act substantially codified the laws.
However in 1776 the revolution come across in United Kingdom with a strong nationalistic flavour to English concept of copyright and in 1790 the copyright act was passed and the concept of copyright was ultimately adopted by the whole English speaking worldwide. DEVELOPMENT OF COPYRIGHT LAWS IN INDIA In India for the first time the statutory law on copyright was introduced in the British time period with the title Indian copyright act of 1847. The act was passed by governor general of India and affirmed the applicability of English copyright law to India. It is interesting in knowing that the copyright act 1911 was applicable to all British colonies including India Further due to loopholes in the previous act the Indian copyright act, 1911 was enacted and added some provision in it which is in the favour of Indians. After independence a need was felt and the previous act was repealed and replaced by the present copyright act, 1957. This act was also amended in 2012 for making it better.
SUBJECT MATTER OF COPYRIGHT Section 13 of the act lists out the work which are subject matter of copyright; According to this section copyright shall subsist throughout India in the following classes of works such as; Literary work – it includes all the literary work like computer programming, tables computer database, compilation etc. further supreme court has define literary work in many cases. Literary work is distinct from dramatic work it was held in Academy of General education Manipal v. B. Malini Mallya(2009)4 SCC256 Dramatic work – it includes choreographic work, poem any acting form of work which is fixed in writing or otherwise. Musical and artistic work- means any work which consists of all types of music and graphical notation but does not include any action intended to be sung, spoken.
In artistic work it includes painting, sculpture, drawing or a photograph etc. Cinematograph film- it includes any work produced by any process analogous including video films. Sound recording- it includes recording of sounds or methods by which the sounds are produced. SALIENT FEATURES OF COPYRIGHT ACT, 1957 Copyright office and copyright board was created under this act to facilitate the owner as the can register their work and approach the board in case of any grievances or any kind of dispute arise under this act and specifically for compulsory licensing. Under this act various definitions has been provided for different categories which are although connected with this act and further defines the scope of the fights conferred on the authors .
Provisions are provided for determining the first owner ownership over the work in various categories in this act such as doctrine of sweat and brow. As we know that there are different categories of work in copyright , which automatically means different time period for different work so this act also provide the certain time period for every work. Provisions are provided for the ownership and licensing of the copyright it also includes compulsory licensing in certain circumstances Further this act also explains and provides the exclusive privilege to the owners of the original work and harmonizes the public interest and author’s right. This act also provides the exclusive right of broadcasting to the original owner of the work in the copyright act.
Giving protection is the main objective of this act so the copyright act provides protection not only in India but after the various amendments and being signee to international treaties gives protection to copyright subject matter at international level. Further definition of infringement of copyright is also providing in this act. In this act exceptions to the exclusive rights which are provided to the authors or owner of the subject matter of copyright is also provided and these exceptions do not constitute infringement. This act also provide civil and criminal remedies to the author against any sort of infringement arise and remedies are also provided in case of groundless proceedings are initiated. CONCLUSION After reading this act as per my view copyright act is one of the most needed and unique act in it self.
This act provides the protection to the literary work, dramatic music and cinematographic work as the subject matter defined under section 14 of the act. Most importantly this act protects the rights of owner as well as creates harmony among public interest which is one of the positive aspects of this act. But with the emergence of time amendments which will be done in future in accordance to the need of society.
