According to Section 2 (o) of Copyright Act, 1957 Copyright law protects the creators, artists, authors etc for their classical, literary and creative works. In the present scenario copyright law in India is governed by Copyright Act, 1957(amended in 2012) along with Copyright Rules, 2013. Copyrights and related rights both provide the creators; their heirs and successors with primitive and necessary rights that they hold the exclusive authority to use or authorize others to use their work on agreed payment. The rights provided are for limited duration starting with the creation of work and lasting for not less than 50 years after the death of the creator. Furthermore, like other intellectual property rights, it can also be registered with the copyright office. These rights can be enforced by the owner through civil action suits, administrative remedies, injunctions which requires destruction of infringing items, inspection orders, and criminal prosecution.
WHERE IS THE APPLICATION FILED?
The application for the registration of copyright is to be filled with Copyright Division, Department of Higher Education, and Ministry of Human Resource Development.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR FILING A COPYRIGHT APPLICATION
- Details of the applicant which includes name, address and nationality.
- Details of the author of the work which includes name, address and nationality.
- Applicant’s nature of interest in the copyright i.e. LICENSEE, OWNER etc.
- Title of the work
- A declaration that is signed by the author in case it is different from that of the applicant.
- Language of the work
- Information regarding whether the work is published or not.
- If the work is published then the details of the first publisher is required which includes year and country of first publication, name, address and nationality.
- If there are any following publications then year and country of that consecutive publication.
- Details of the individual who is permitted to assign or license the rights in copyright which includes name, address and nationality.
- Power of attorney
- 6 hard copies of the work and 3 soft copies.
- In case of computer program, 3 copies of the program on CD-ROMs.
PROCEDURE FOR THE APPLICATION OF COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION IN INDIA
- Application for the registration is to be filled according to the rules mentioned in the First schedule.
The application process if of two types:
- The online process:
- First the applicant has to create a User Id at the government website with the basic details.
- Then after logging in and clicking on the online copyright registration, the form for the registration has to be filled in 4 steps:
- Completing the Form XIV and saving it
- Filling up the statement of particulars and saving it
- Filling up the statement of particulars and saving it
- Making the payment through various online payment options (credit card/ Debit card/ Internet banking etc)
- After the form has been successfully submitted a diary number will be generated.
- Print out of the “Acknowledgement slip” and “Copyright Registration Report” has to be taken.
- The offline process
- Application for the registration of copyright is to be filled on Form XIV.
- For each work there has to be a separate application for the registration.
- Each application should be followed by the essential fee mentioned in the second schedule of the rule.
- The application has to be signed by the applicant or the advocate in whose favor the power of attorney has been completed and the application signed by the applicant and accepted by the advocate should be confined.
- Every particulars and further particulars of the statement has to be replied specifically.
PROCESS OF APPROVAL OF THE APPLICATION OF REGISTRATION
- Once the application filled and after a period of 30 days if no objection is raised by any third party then the application is sent to the examiners for the review. If there are any variations that are found then the application is given another 30 days to remove the variations and it will take around 2- 3 months for the work to get registered.
- Also according to Rule 27 of the Copyright Rules, 1958 no application will be rejected without the party being heard that means the applicant will get the chance to present or appear in the court for the hearing.
- In case if there is an objection raised by the third party then an additional time period of 30 days will be granted in order to decide whether the copyright should be registered or not, only after hearing both the parties to the case.
Copyright registration is a must because it provides for the immediate protection and rights to the creator along with a scope to earn economic benefits and rights by exhibiting and introducing the work to the world with exclusive legal protection and remedies, visit Company Vakil today and get Copyright Protection for your work right away.
