Copyright Registration

Works that are not fixed in a tangible form such as ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, or discoveries, unwritten speeches etc. cannot be copyrighted.

The copyright owner has the exclusive rights to:

• Reproduce and distribute the work in copies or phonorecord to the public by sale or transfer of ownership or license.
• Make additions to the original work or modify it, display, present or perform them among the public; and
• Exclude others to claim ownership or use without the original creators’ permission.

Yes, you can send a legal notice to that person. And, even after that the infringement continues, you can claim your exclusive right in the court of law to claim damages.

Copyright protection is valid for the duration of 60 years; in case it is literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works the 60-year period is counted from the year following the death of the author/creator. For cinematographed films, sound recordings and photographs, the 60-year period are counted from the date of publication. For broadcasting, the term is 25 years from the beginning of the calendar year following the year in which it was first broadcasted.

Yes, an original creator may sell, transfer, assign or license their copyright.

Yes, you can copyright original authorship on a website. But a domain name cannot be protected under the copyright law. However, every  work e.g. photographs, videos etc would be considered as a separate work and a separate application fee needs to be paid for each on them.

A trademark is a given to protect a brand name, logo or slogan. While copyright is a protection given to unique content like a book, music, videos, songs and other artistic content. In the common practice, a website owner usually protects just the content and not the supporting works like photos and videos uploaded on the website as they are bound to change according to the business requirement.

No. In the case of a program made in the course of author’s employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship, the employer shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright.

No, there is no such mechanism to search for already existing works on the copyright registry website

In the case of jewelry, both copyright and design laws apply. It is preferable to take copyright protection on the sketches of the design as artwork due to the extended protection provided under copyright law than that provided under the design laws.

(a)Literary, Dramatic, Musical or Artistic work: Rs. 500/- per work

(b)Provided that in respect of a Sound Recording, Cinematograph Film, Literary or Artistic work which is used or is capable of being used in relation to any goods (under section 45): Rs. 2,000/- per work