How to Register a Copyright in India

One of the immensely famous and leading IPR law firms of India, we have been extending superb and brisk legal services for all categories of intellectual property to people and entities located in all across India and the whole world. Here, in ours this highly refined and enlightening web article, we are providing comprehensive and very beneficial information about the copyright registration in India. Our expert, punctilious, and responsible services for copyright registration in India are available for all categories of matters, works, and creations which require copyright registration. So far, myriads of writers, artists, filmmakers, musicians, dramatists, architects, designers, producers of sound recordings, and software engineers, who belonged to India and abroad, have availed ours copyright registration services in India.

What is Copyright?

The Copyright is the legal right or a set of certain legitimate and exclusive rights, which is granted for the specified period of time to the creator of any original and unique work, through proper registration of the same, by the government of the concerned country. The rights obtained from copyright registration aim to safeguard the unique creative creation of the creator, reward him/her/it for their creativity, and grant them some legitimate rights regarding the uses and protection of the intellectual work. Here, it is noteworthy that the copyright protects only the unique creation, expression, or presentation of ideas, facts, things, method, and process, literary or other contents, etc.

Copyright Law in India

Highly refined and globally reputed copyright law of India is collectively represented by the Copyright Act of 1957, and the Copyright Rules of 1958, which came into effect from January 1958. This copyright law of India is well-formed to provide elegant and impeccable provisions for copyright registration, copyright regulation, and copyright protection in entire India. Today, this copyright law of India is in close harmony with most of the international and world-famous copyright laws of the world, such as the TRIPS Agreement, Berne Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, Rome Convention, WIPO Copyrights Treaty (WCT), and WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). For these laudable and responsible purposes, the Indian Copyright Act has been regularly amended in the years 1983, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1999, and 2012.

Things which require Copyright

Creations, things and works which require copyright registration and protection are – all types and nature of Literary works (such as books, novels, poems, written articles, tables and compilations, computer software and programs, etc.); Dramatic Works (such as plays, plots, radio and television scripts, etc.); Artistic Works (such as paintings, sculptures, drawings, architectural designs, etc.); Musical Works; Sound Recordings (such as phonograms, CD-ROM, etc.); Photographic Collections; Cinematographic Creations; Works related with Animation and Multimedia; and other categories of creations and works which essentially need monopoly and protection.

Rights Granted by Copyright

The lavish rights granted to the creator through copyright registration can be broadly classified into the categories of the Economic Rights, Moral Rights, and the Protective Rights. These rights are concerned with various commercial or professional uses of the copyrighted creation by the creator, or any person or entity authorized by the creator or owner; reproduction of the copyrighted matter, or making derivative works; public display or performance; adaptation and translation of the copyrighted work; hiring or trading of the copyrighted material; take proper and rigorous measures for safety of the matter copyrighted within the jurisdiction; and sue against the infringers who ever make any infringement upon or misuses of the copyrighted content. However, there could be some inherent variations or deviations in the composition of the rights granted, depending on the specific categories of the copyrighted works or creations.

Any person, company, or firm who encroaches upon or violate these legitimate and exclusive rights of the creator, commits a copyright infringement. In India, copyright infringement cases are punishable under the Section 63 of the Copyright Act of 1957.

Filing the Copyright Application

The main Copyright Office of India, established under Section 9 of the Indian Copyright Act, is located in New Delhi. Since September 2009, online filing of copyright applications is also facilitated (in addition to the traditional manual and postal filings) by the Government of India (with the website – www.copyright.gov.in/-). The Chapter VI of the Copyright Rules of 1958, together with all amendments made there to so far, gives information about the process and procedure for copyright registration in India. The most important and main documents required for copyright registration are the following:

• Completed and duly signed Application of Copyright Registration (Form-4), together with the Statement of Particulars (SoP) and the Statement of Further Particulars (SoFP) in Triplicate, as prescribed in the First Schedule of the Copyright Rules, 1958.
• An application for copyright registration ought to be properly signed by the creator or applicant, or his advocate, who has a Power of Attorney (POA) in this respect. The copy of the POA is also required to be submitted.
• A separate application is to be forwarded for copyright registration of every individual work or creation.
• Each application is to be duly accompanies by the prescribed fee for the given type of work or creation, given in the Second Schedule of the Rules.
• Fees can be remitted by Postal Orders or Demand Draft, payable to the Registrar of Copyrights, New Delhi. These fees are not reimbursable even in the case of rejection of the forwarded application for copyright registration.
• Each and every well-devised column of the SoP and the SoFP, must be filled in up specifically and responsibly
• Five fully identical copies (in every respect) of the artistic work, as is attached with the Search Certificate (TN-60)
• In case the file work has been made published by any other person or entity, then, a No Objection Certificate (NOC) in original is to be obtained from the person/entity, and thereafter, enclosed with the application for registration of the work.

Copyright Filing Fees

For registering each and every new work, a separate application is recommended, along with the prescribed fee for that. The amount of fee for registering any specific creation or work differs, depending upon the type of the work. The list of prescribed fees for various works and creations, is given in the Second Schedule of the Copyright Rules of 1958, and is easily obtainable from the website of the Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov.in/-). At present, the copyright filing fees for different objects, works, and creations start from mere INR-50/- per work to INR-600/- per creation. And, for acquiring the license for republishing any copyrighted material, the charges vary accordingly from INR-200/- per work to INR-600/- per work.

Time Taken in Copyright registration

After filing an application for copyright registration, the applicant is given a diary number, and requires waiting for a period of at least 30 days. This 30-day period is meant for giving ample opportunity to objections that could be raised by other persons or entities against the filed creation of the applicant. If any such objection has been raised, then, resolution of the conflict is to be made first through discussion, before forwarding the application for examiner's scrutiny. This may take another one month. And, in case there is no objection raised, the filed application directly goes before the examiners after the one month of filing. After meticulous observation of the filed work by the examiners, if some discrepancies are found in it, then the applicant is contacted and given a time-period of one month for appeasing the discrepancies. Thus, normally, two to three months are elapsed in the copyright registration process. Promptness and dedicated cooperation of the applicant can expedite the whole process.

Copyright Symbol

To notify that a certain creation or work is under the copyright protection, and therefore, cannot be reproduced or distributed commercially, or used or promoted publicly, without the authoritative permission of the copyright holder, the Copyright Symbol is printed on the creation or on its wrapping cover. This copyright symbol is generally depicted by an encircled capital C as ©, for all unique creations and works, except the sound recordings. For all sorts of sound recordings, the usual copyright symbol is an encircled capital P. For typing the copyright symbol, generally the following pattern is followed:

Copyright © Year [Name or Any Indication about the Copyright Owner]. All Rights Reserved.

Duration of Copyright Protection

The time-duration of the governmental and legal protection obtainable from proper registration, is much more for copyrighted matters and materials, than that availed of in case of all other objects of intellectual property, in India and other countries worldwide. In most of the countries including India, the duration of the validity and protection to any copyrighted creation is the whole life of the creator, plus seventy to hundred years from the death of the creator. And, for creations and works of corporate ownership, the tenure of protection is usually 120 years after the formation or creation of these, or 95 years after the first publication of these, whichever is applicable first. This duration of copyright protection can easily be extended for infinite period through regular copyright renewals.