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Creating work is always a tedious and difficult process. The one who creates the work puts a lot of creativity and hard work into it. So naturally, he has a right over the work. Hence someone using your work for their own benefit without permission is like stealing your work.
Copyright is nothing but the exclusive right vested on the creator or owner of the work. It is a protection granted to the creator of an original work. According to Section 13 of the Copyrights Act, 1957 (hereinafter referred to as 'the act') literary work, computer programming, art, music, cinematography etc. For example, painting, story, book, film etc are all subject to copyright. Copyrights are usually with the creator of the work but in cases where an employee creates something in the course of employment, the copyright is vested on the employer or company. The creator can sell the copyright to another person or company.
There are two types of rights under the Copyright Act:
Economic Rights of the author
Moral Rights of the author
Economic Rights like cinematography, literary, artistic, musical work etc. mentioned in Section 14 of the act come under the economic rights of the creator. Only the creator or the owner has the right to use, distribute or reproduce such works for commercial purposes. The moral rights of the author are contained in Section 57 of the act. This ensures that the work of the author is not copied, distorted or altered in any way.
According to Information Technology Act, 2000 any person who uses a computer, computer network or computer system to commit an offense will be held liable under Section 1(2) read with Section 75 of the act irrespective of his/her nationality. In online mediums using a copyrighted image, video, research papers, articles etc can also result in copyright infringement. Even infringing copyright without the knowledge of the other person is punishable. Hence the publishers must be careful while publishing something. However, providing properly citing the source avoids this to some extent.
There are however no copyrights in judgments by the court. Judgment is published in the public domain by any court. It can be reproduced and published by anyone and no one can claim copyright for it. This was held in the case of Eastern Book Company & Others vs Navin J. Desai & Another.
Without laws to prevent copyright infringement, the owner cannot completely enjoy his copyright. To prevent copyright infringement, the court can take cognizance of the offense within the limitation period. The limitation period is prescribed under the CrPC. In David Pon Pandian v. State it was held that "the Court can take cognizance pf the offense, if the charge sheet is filed within the prescribed period of limitation under Section 468, Cr.P.C. and in computing the period of limitation, the date of commission of the offense is to be reckoned as the starting point. If the charge sheet is not filed within three years, the Court has no power to entertain the complaint"
According to Section 55 of the act, the one who infringes copyright can be demanded injunction, damages and accounts etc. Infringing copies and the copies sold can be recovered by the owner of the copyright. According to Section 62, any suit can be filed before the district court having jurisdiction. Section 65 of the Act lays down that "any person who knowing infringes or abets shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may be extended to three years and with fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees but which may extend to two lakh rupees." Section 63A of the Act says that any person who was held liable and repeats a similar offense can be punished again. A police officer on being satisfied can seize all plates used for making infringing copies under Section 64. If a company commits a copyright infringement, every person who was responsible for the conduct of the business at that is held responsible under Section 69.
In the case of Hindustan Pencils Ltd v Alpna Cottage Industries, the Copyright Board of Goa held that "where the similarities between the artistic works of the parties are fundamental and substantial in material aspects, it would amount to copyright violation and the defendant's copyright is liable to be expunged from the register of copyright". In Yash Raj Films Pvt Ltd vs Sri Sai Ganesh Productions & Ors, the hon'ble court held that "the expression "to make a copy of the film" in Section 14(d)(i) does not mean just to make a physical copy of the film by a process of duplication."
Citations:
For a more detailed understanding, refer to the" Yash Raj Films Pvt Ltd. v. Sri Sai Ganesh Productions and Ors." case study by clicking the case below.
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