All about Copyright

By Online Legal India Published On 29 Dec 2020 Updated On 15 Jan 2022 Category Copyright

What is Copyright?
Copyright Law, 1957
Rights granted under Copyright Law?
What can we protect with Copyright?
Benefits of Copyright
Duration of Copyright
What is Copyright Violation?
Types of Copyright Violations
What are the Penalties of Copyright Infringement?
How to Solve Copyright Disputes
Copyright registration At OLI

What is Copyright?

Copyright is the exclusive rights of an original work of art vested on the creator of that work. When you Copyright your creation, it is protected by law from unauthorized reproduction or misuse. Literature, music, art, sound recording, architectural works can be copyrighted. The rights holder of a certain intellectual property can reproduce, distribute, adapt and derive the matter.

Copyright Law

In India, all intellectual properties are protected under section 13 of the Copyright Act 1957. This act confers a bunch of exclusive rights to the owner of IP by virtue of Section 14 of the Act. These rights can be transferred to any other entity if the owner hands them over legally. These rights include the right to adapt, right to reproduce, right to publish, right to translate.

Rights granted under Copyright Law?

A copyright grants protection to the creator for his/her works and prevents any unlawful reproduction of such contents. Copyright Registration confers certain allowances to the creator.

The creator can prohibit or allow anyone to:

reproduce the work in any form
use the work for any original or inspired public performance.
make copies/recordings of the work.
broadcast it in different forms
make translations to other languages

What can we protect with Copyright?

With the Copyright act, any of your intellectual property can be protected. The act includes a varied range of IPs such as

Literary works: Books, Fiction, non-fiction prose, poems, essays, blogs, plays, script, cinematograph, articles, published editions.
Web contents: Text, pictures, software, graphics, database, website, e-book
Video or audio: Movies, TV programs, radio, podcasts and broadcasting
Music: Songs, Lyrics and Instrumentals
Artistic works: Paintings, drawings, sculptures, graphics, maps, charts, Graphic design, Images & Photographs
Design: Architectural design of any structure

Benefits of Copyright

The following are a few benefits mentioned of Copyright:

Legal Protection: A copyright provides legal protection to your brand and intellectual property, any infringement of the same by any other entity shall be under legal trials.
Branding or Goodwill: A Copyright helps your company to create goodwill amongst your customers. The brand value enhances automatically.
After The Creators Death: Even after the Creator’s demise, the ownership remains intact if there is a copyright registration of the work.
Prima Facie Evidence:
Owner publicity: In the case of artistic works or any intellectual property like paintings, photographs or other artworks, the creator can hold exhibitions to display and sell their work after they have a copyright. That helps the owner to get publicity.
Restricts Unauthorized Reproduction: Any unauthorized reproduction of the copyrighted work is strictly restricted and punishable under law.
Creation of Asset: After the registration of Copyright for your property, it becomes an asset.
Public Record: Copyright registration lists the owner of the work in the public records which helps in tracking the copyrighted work back to its creator.
Credibility in Market: Copyright helps in establishing the credibility of the work in the market.
Global Protection: Copyright of work provides Global recognition and global protection of the work as well.

Duration of Copyright Protection

A copyrighted piece of literature is protected for 60 years after the death of the author. In the case of cinematography, sound recordings, photographs, anonymous publications, the 60-year period starts from the date of publication.

What is Copyright Violation?

Copyright Violations come into picture when someone copies, sells, distributes, adapts, displays that creation without authorized permission. If your work is copyright protected, then without your permission any replication is a crime. Copyright infringement is a violation of one’s exclusive rights over his/her intellectual property.

Types of Copyright Violations

With the term, Copyright comes in line words like Piracy, Theft and Freebooting. Freebooting is used to describe unauthorized imitation of online media such as videos on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and so on.

Making copies of copyright-protected works for personal gain. Mostly we use the term piracy to talk about unfair copying of someone’s work.
Distributing copyrighted works without the owner’s permission.
Exhibiting copyright-violating works in public.
Importing copyright violating works from abroad.

What are the Penalties of Copyright Violations?

The minimum punishment for copyright violation is imprisonment for six months with a minimum fine of Rs. 50,000/-.

In the case of a second and subsequent conviction, the minimum punishment is imprisonment for one year and a fine of Rs. one lakh.

How to Solve the Copyright Dispute?

After the violation of a copyrighted piece, there are numerous ways to solve a dispute. Generally, both parties negotiate directly or the violated client can send a legal notice to initiate a takedown process. The complex cases require a settlement or litigation in civil court.

Our world, more than ever, is so prone to the internet now that it is really hard to imagine life without it. Just as fast connectivity has its advantages, the disadvantages can not to be overlooked and Guess What! the crimes related to copyright infringement are escalating as each second passes. So it is better to be safe than sorry. Get your work copyright protected now with the help of efficient experts and be free of the impending violation.