Frequently Asked Questions On Copyright Laws

QUERY #1

How long can a person own the copyright of their work and what happens to it after their death? If the copyright ceases to exist after the author's death, won't everyone be able to publish the same book in their own name, Shakespeare's dramas for example?

ANSWER:

The short answer to your question is sixty years after the death of the author.

The laws pertaining to copyright are contained in the Copyright Act of 1957. Section 14 of the same act gives the meaning of copyright as the exclusive right to do or authorise to do acts like reproducing, copying, performing, translating, adapting, etc., of any literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work, and even includes a computer programme. Section 17 of the same states that the first owner of a work shall be its author, and the definition of an author for literary, dramatic, artistic, musical, etc., are given in section 2(d) of the same Act.

Chapter V, section 22 of the Copyright Act prescribes the term of a copyright for published literary, dramatic, artistic, musical works. It states that for literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, a copyright shall subsist till sixty years after the year of death of its author.

The works of Shakespeare and other famous writers of his time exist in the public domain and are not copyrighted. Therefore anyone is free to use these works as they wish. Works like these entered the public domain either because their copyright expired or because they were never copyrighted in the first place.

I hope this helps. Thank you for your time and patience!

QUERY#2

A director misled my friend to enter into a biopic contract of her story which has no due date or end date. It has been five years and no update has been given on the movie. What can be done about this? Is the contract void now?

ANSWER: 

The short answer to your question is 5 years, unless an agreement states otherwise.

As the meaning of the word ‘biopic contract’ is unclear, it shall be assumed to mean the assignment of the copyright.

Copyright laws in India are discussed in the Copyright Act of 1957. It defines a copyright in its section 14 as the exclusive right to do or authorise to do any act like reproducing, copying, performing, translating, adapting, etc., of any literary, dramatic, musical, or literary work, or even a computer programme. As per section 17 of the same act, the first owner of the copyright of a literary, dramatic, artistic, or musical work shall be the author of the work, unless said work was created during the course of employment in a publishing company for the purposes of the publishing company, in which case the rights shall lie with the said company.

The owner of the copyright possesses the right to assign this copyright to anyone, for a particular term and subject to limitations, or for the whole term of the copyright and without any limits, and can be given wholly or partially. This assignment must be given in writing and should be signed by the assignor or his agent. As per section 19(5) of the Copyright Act, if the period of assignment is not stated, it will be assumed to be five years from the date of assignment.

I hope this helps. Thank you for your time and patience!

QUERY #3

Who will be the owner of the copyright on demise of the author while producing a cinematographic work?

ANSWER: 

The short answer to your question would be the producer of the cinematographic work.

The laws and regulations relating to copyright in India are contained in the Copyright Act of 1957. The same act defines a copyright as an exclusive right to do or authorise to do an act like that of reproducing, copying, performing, translating, adapting, etc., of any literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work, and can even include a computer programme. 

Chapter IV of the same act deals with the ownership of the copyright and rights of the owner, under which, section 17 states that the first owner of a copyright shall be the author of the work. As per section 17(a), an exception to this is given, if the work in question was created during the course of employment at any publishing company for the purposes of the publishing company, the first owner of the copyright of the work shall be this company. Subject to this provision, section 17(b) states that the first owner of the copyright in the case of a cinematographic work shall be the person who provides valuable consideration for the creation of this work, unless any agreement stating otherwise exists.

Therefore, unless there is any agreement that states the first owner of the copyright of that work, the producer shall be deemed as the first owner of the copyright.

I hope this helps. Thank you for your time and patience!

QUERY #4

I am a scientist working for an institute under the Government of India. This institute allows PhD scholars to enrol and complete their PhD under the guidance of the scientists working in the institute. I learned a few days ago that a PhD student requested a technical staff to handover my research data and used it to publish his paper. What can I do about this?

ANSWER: 

The short answer to your question is that such use is permitted and excluded from any copyright infringement.

The laws regarding copyrights in India are governed by the Copyright Act of 1957. The same act defines a copyright as the exclusive right to do or authorise to do any act such as reproducing, copying, performing, translating, adapting, etc., of any literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work, and could even include a computer programme. The first owner of the copyright of a work shall be the author of the work, as per section 17 of the act. The definition of author for various kinds of works is also given in section 2(d) of the same act.

Chapter XI of the Copyright Act deals with the infringement of copyrights. Section 52 under this chapter specifies certain acts which shall not constitute an infringement of the copyright of a work. The following are certain acts considered as fair dealing with any work, as per section 17(a):

1)    Private or personal use, including research;

2)    Criticism or review, whether of that work or of any other work;

3)    The reporting of current events and current affairs, including the reporting of a lecture delivered in public.

As evident, research comes under “fair use” of a work, and therefore shall not constitute an infringement of the copyright.

Also, as per section 17(a) of the Copyright Act of 1957, if a work is produced during the course of employment in a publishing company of any kind, and was produced for the purposes of the company, this company shall be the first owner of the copyright of this work, unless an agreement exists between the parties stating otherwise.

Therefore, unless an agreement exists between the researcher and the institute they are working for that allows the researcher to be the first owner of the copyright of their work, the institute shall be the first owner of the copyright. And since research comes under “fair use”, it cannot constitute an infringement of copyright.