COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION IN INDIA

subhash jha
Aug 9, 2017 · 2 min read

Copyright is the legal right of a person against his creation be it literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematographically produced content, etc. Copyright is a bundle of rights which include the right of reproduction, screening and communication in public, adaptation, translation or any other use in any other form of the work. Copyright is a safeguard to the creators for protection of his/her creation and creativity. The existence of this right denotes the importance given in the society and in the eyes of law to original thinking, hard work and recognizing the idea of creativity as a major contribution to progress in each and every field. This right provides an umbrella protection to sharing of one person’s creativity with others so that everyone can mutually benefit and at the same time providing an atmosphere that encourages this spirit of innovation. The provisions related to Copyright are governed in India by the Copyright Act, 1957 which has been amended six times to incorporate the changing dynamics of the society.

For Registering a Copyright in India, the applicant needs to follow the following steps:

An application for the same has to be made to the Copyright Office headed by the Registrar of Copyrights either in person or through post. Application can be made through the e-filing facility as well; it however requires the Documents as per the category of work for which the applicant is claiming copyright- Artistic, Cinematograph Film, Music, Literary, Dramatic, Sound Recording or Software. The Check list for the same is available at website of the Copyright Office, Government of India. The online e-filing facility was started from 14th February, 2014 to ease the process.

  • An Application as per form 4 of the First Schedule of the Copyright Rules, 2013 need to be made which includes the Statement of particulars and Statement of Further Particulars along with an affidavit certifying the ownership of the work.
  • The Application has to be accompanied by the requisite fees as prescribed in the Second Schedule.
  • The Application needs to be filed by either the applicant or the Advocate who has been granted the Power of Attorney to this respect and his acceptance to the same has to be hereby enclosed to the form.

After the successful filing of the application a Dairy Number will be issued. After this there has to be a mandatory wait for a 30 day period for call for objections. If objections are raised, then a notice is issued to both parties to provide an opportunity of being heard by the Registrar who will decide the matter. Once the matter is cleared there will be a Scrutiny by the Examiner. If he finds any discrepancies, again, the Registrar will hear the matter. If no discrepancy the registration is approved by the Deputy Registrar and Extracts from the Register are sent to the Applicant resulting in successful registration of the Copyright.

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