An Overview of Copyright

Dec 2022

WIPO defines copyright as the right of creators to ownership of their creations and to make use for commercial or other purposes. Copyright today covers literary creations, printed material, computer programs, data, audiovisual media, dance, paintings and drawings, photographs, sculpture, architecture, ad material, technical drawings and others that are the outcome of intellectual effort.

From covering only literary and artistic works, copyright today encompasses works of music, cinematography, audio, theatre and visuals. Technological innovations have broadened the scope of copyright necessitating amendments to cover technologies such as TV and internet.

In essence, copyright confers on the creator exclusive rights for a limited period to enjoy benefits of his intellectual and physical efforts. The creator has right to claim credit for his work and to grant rights to others to make use of his creation in its original or modified form in return for consideration. Copyright applies to any idea expressed in a substantive and identifiable form and not just the concept.

In earlier times governments applied copyright laws only to print media to give authors protection and right to enjoy fruits of their labour. Such laws are restricted to countries unless there is an international agreement in place. However, with the march of time, most copyright laws have become international in nature and are internationally standardized.

The nominal duration of copyright ranges from 50 to 100 years from the author’s demise when such author is known or for a shorter period when the author is unknown or when the creator is a business organization. Some countries require registration but most countries automatically confer copyright for any completed work. Civil legislation covers copyright with criminal laws applicable in some instances.

In today’s environment copyright laws balance rights of owner with interests of the public.

The scope of copyright laws:

Literature of all kinds whether published or unpublished including oral works and musical notations and lyrics.

  • Artistic works in the form of painting, drawing, etching, lithographs, 3 dimensional creations, computer generated art work, maps, technical drawings, photographs, motion picture or cinematography of all types.
  • Computer software ad programs.
  • Creative arts such as jewellery, wallpaper, furniture, handicrafts

Copyright applies usually to creations aimed at masses communicated through any type of media in any way. Vast in scope, it covers anything and everything produced by intellectual effort.

An incongruity is that copyright protects the outcome of the creative idea but not the idea itself that can be used by others to develop their own creations with their own copyright benefits.

The Universal Declaration of Human rights, article 27 states:

“Everyone has right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community to enjoy the arts and share in scientific advancements and its benefits.” And

“Everyone has the right to protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.”

Trending Blogs
Liability Of Internet Service Providers In Digital Environment
Isp Liability In India: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can be liable for the content on the sites they host. They can be liable even if they were merely passively hosting the site, unless they take down the objectionable material when they receive notice of it. The Copyright Act and the Information Technology Act includes the […]
Read More
An Overview of Copyright
WIPO defines copyright as the right of creators to ownership of their creations and to make use for commercial or other purposes. Copyright today covers literary creations, printed material, computer programs, data, audiovisual media, dance, paintings and drawings, photographs, sculpture, architecture, ad material, technical drawings and others that are the outcome of intellectual effort. From […]
Read More
US and India to join hands on the grounds of Intellectual Property Rights
After US President Donald Trump’s visit in India from February 24 to 25th February, India and the US have opted for an agreement relating to intellectual property rights or IPR. As a result of this, the cabinet sanctioned MoU with the US pertaining to IPRs, relevant to information and broadcasting as has been stated by […]
Read More
PTAB Should Not Disapprove Claims on the Grounds of Indefiniteness in IPR
Federal Circuit has disapproved of arguments of claims that show any reason other than anticipation pertaining to party procedures. Federal Circuit has rejected the challenge shown by Samsung Electronics America, Inc. The company challenged that PTAB can disapprove claims that are considered indefinite in IPR. Samsung has been charged on the grounds of infringing U.S. […]
Read More
Protection Folklores India Intellectual Property Rights
India is a land of diversity when it comes to folk and ethnic culture with hundreds of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups with diverse origins and lifestyles that, over time, intermingled in part and remained untouched in parts over centuries. Perception about folklore differs in India, mainly associated with tribals and simple rural people, rather […]
Read More
The Clash Of Jurisdiction Of CCI And TRAI
Overlapping Jurisdiction The Competition Act, 2002 read with section 18 of the legislation delegates to the Competition Commission of India (the “CCI”) the duty of “promoting and sustaining competition” in the Indian economy. This implies that the CCI will have principal jurisdiction to regulate conditions of competition in the relevant market of India. Whereas, Section […]
Read More
Intellectual Property and its Role in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Intellectual property rights are considered to be an important asset of any corporate unit. It is an indication of the creation of mind and the work that makes one entity different from the other. With better IP or intellectual rights, it would be easy to promote the possible innovations and this would be useful in […]
Read More
Music Law 101: What Does Copyright Law Protect?
Music Law 101 is all about protecting different musical works along with sound recordings to its original creator. As copyright can be a confusing part, it is better to know what all it protects so that it becomes easy. It is known that each piece of recording has two types of copyrights. First, it protects […]
Read More
The Big Push to Reform Music Copyright for the Digital Age
Music creators of the present digital age should be aware of the copyright issues better due to different reasons. Music is made available on different websites, and it is necessary to prevent the increasing problem of infringement. Pertaining to this, a number of bills are proposed in Congress that can enhance royalty payment for the […]
Read More
Color Trademarks in the Pharmaceutical Industry
The trademarks are vital part of company goods or service and with help of trademark; the consumers are able to identify the business better. Before deciding the correct trademark option for pharmaceutical industry, it is necessary to check for its existence. If any similar one is already present in the trademark database, it is better […]
Read More
X
Download Firm Profile