Is Copyright Law The New Gen Z Law In The Digital Era

KEY ELEMENTS

• Under the copyright law the basics require to be such that the creation should be a work of authorship, original and importantly in a form of tangible expression format.
• The Copyright law in India is governed under the Copyright Act 1957 which was last amended in 2012.
• It is a comprehensive statute covering the moral rights (known as author’s special rights) neighbouring rights (rights of broadcasting organisations, performers and droit de suite) and exhaustive economic rights (copyright) in variousworks that are transferable.
• Copyright can be enforced in both civil courts as well as criminal courts.
• There is also a copyright board that is constituted by the Act and that look into limited matters such as loyalties payment etc.
• Discussion on UTV Software Communication Ltd., v.1337X.TO and Ors and YRF v Sri Sai Ganesh Productions

Summary

Copyright is a right given by the law to creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and producers of cinematograph films and sound recordings this right empowers them to make decisions with regards to their creations and protect them from being duplicated without the knowledge or approval of the creator themselves while also providing the means within the system to make it profitable.

Copyright law is therefore sometimes called as the authors rights. It protects the work from being copied. Copyright protects the work of a creator that is original and is expressed in tangible means such as a song, tune, movie etc the owner of the original creation owns the copyrights to himself and may transfer to a second part at will. Due to existence of laws such as copyright it creates an atmosphere is created for the creators from different backgrounds to make more new work that is unique to their field and provide the society a wholesome experience while adding great value in economic and social environments too.

Creation and creativity in a society is also looked up and laws such as copyright make it healthy and ideal for creators to make new work possible by safeguarding them. However, it is not too rigid in nature and creates ample room for exploration of new ideas which is why there are exceptions too in this law especially if it’s for social purposes such as education, religious ceremonies, and so on they are exempted from the operation of the rights granted in the Act.

HISTORIC BACKGROUND

Wondering how the world got the idea of creating copyright laws, let me tell you through a tale. It all began in 1440 when sir Gutenberg invented a machine that could duplicate paintings and even the literary work in Germany which then reached in England and king Richar III seized the opportunity and the import of paintings and literary work began on large scale in England.

In 1529, King Henry VII made the printing business a monopoly that’s when the stationer's guild company was formed, only the registered members had the right to print or publish books.

This led to the first License act which due to time couldn’t survive for long further more there was the Statute of Anne in 1710 which is known to be the first copyright law in the world, this Act promoted learning and piracy against the authors which led us all to copyright act 1911.

India

Copyright law in India is borrowed from the English law and was first enacted during East India Company in 1847 eventually there was an upgrade and new Copyright Act of 1914 came which was more modern and comprehensive in nature.The Copyright Act of 1957 came into force on the 21st of January, 1958 replacing the previous acts.

This introduced changes such as provisions for setting up copyright office under the control of Registrar of copyright for registration of books and other works of art along with the establishment of a copyright board to deal with the disputes relating to copyright. It’s since then been amended around six times, latest in 2012. As we notice this law as a long history and while it served well in each era there is always room to evolve.

Today’s Relevance of Copyright

The amendments made in the Copyright Act of 1957 in 2012 were made in a way that covered all the digital platforms such as the internet, satellite station and others. It also covered the circumvention of technological measures pertaining to copyrighted works while providing a set of solution for infringement of rights. It also aims at digital protect and privacy of work.

The65A of the Act states that, “any person who circumvents an effective technological measure applied for the purpose of protecting rights conferred under the Act, with the intention of infringing such rights, shall be punished with imprisonment that may extend to two years and would also be liable to a fine.”

While Sec65(b) from the act states that “any person who knowingly makes, or has in his possession, any plate for the purpose of making infringing copies of any work in which copyright subsists shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to 2[two years and shall also be liable to fine]." One can take these matters to civil or criminal court for proceedings.

Civil remedy would include injunction, damages and a rendition of accounts. If a site is providing infringed copy of content from outside India to the Indian users the courts in India will adjudicate the matter. Under sec 15 of the Act, copyright may not be provided to a design that is redo of the original design that is being registered under designs Act 1911.

JUDGEMENTS

• UTV Software Communication Ltd., v.1337X.TO and Ors

This case was decided by the Delhi High Court wherein the copyright protected content of the plaintiff (UTV Software Communication) was being used by defendant which was an infringement of their rights under the Copyright Act 1957. At the act of piracy is deeming and strict actions and were taken against it while also taking down the content from the pirated sites.

• YRF v Sri Sai Ganesh Productions

In this case Yashraj Films pvt limited sued the Sri Sai Ganesh Productions &Ors for copying their Band Baja Baarat movie and making it into Jabardasht which was under SSG production. This movie had the same character, plot, theme, etc. Sec 14(d)(i) doesn’t only prevail someone from making physical or softcopies of the original work but in board sense such an act also falls under section 14 according to the court interpterion

Why should you register your work as an artist of the gen z era

Registration of your unique work is helpful as it saved in a public record and therefore if there is an infringement of your rights it will be easy to prove and therefore even tho it’s not mandatory to register one’s creative work it’s a smart choice for the future as it saves the hassle to prove that the work being used by others is actually your own and you will get a fair deal by the law for violation of your rights. Its almost like having your own legal evidence and that help you decide if you want to sell your rights off or keep it to yourself.

So, gen z avoid being lazy and doubting yourself if you have talent and have created pieces its worth more than just few likes on the social platform, it might actually be your lottery ticket.

Procedure to get the work registered for claiming copyrights

• File an application either physically in the copyright office or online at (copyright.gov.in) it doesn’t get any easier than this as a copyright owner himself, or an authorized agent or someone who has been granted the permission for rights.
• Pay the fees to the registrar, every work has a different fee assigned to it for registration process for egregistration fee for a book maybe INR 2000 while that for a movie would be INR 20000
• Examination will be conducted to make sure it’s an original piece and if anyone raises any objection against its registration. If there is an objection raised, they will be a hearing about it and the application will be sent for scrutiny
• At last, your work will be finally registered the process is complete when the application is issued the Extracts of the Register of Copyrights (ROC). It may take up to 10 months or more to reach to the last step, but it’s all worth it

Conclusion

Technology is constantly evolving and while is should be making life easy it sometimes can build a sense of pressure and competition which is even taking a short cut might seem ideal, sometimes its jus to make that extra pocket money cash but practicing infringement of copyrights and misusing it without the knowledge or credibility of the creator is unfair and has serious repercussions to them. Instead trying to make something of our own and building a life around it is a much healthier choice. We are all creative and have our strong roots in some field and the field of IPR today is vast and in cooperates almost everyone and safeguards our intellectual property, so don’t be afraid to explore and create. Sky is the limit