The digital era has fundamentally changed how we produce, consume, and exchange material, but it has also given rise to copyright infringement issues that content providers are becoming increasingly concerned about.
Having their works stolen or copied without permission may be terrible for creators who spend years honing their craft and producing original products. Unfortunately, violations of authorship rights are a painful reality for many Indian content producers.
The problem of copyright infringement has become more common than ever before as the usage of digital media spreads.
Both consumers and content creators, need to be aware of the laws that regulate the infringement of copyright in India.
If we are aware of these regulations, we can safeguard our work and avoid inadvertently infringing on the rights of others.
This article will help you understand everything about the infringement of copyright in India.
So let’s explore the complicated realm of copyright infringement in India and discover how each of us may contribute to the preservation of creative works.
Copyright is a vital legal concept that acts as a guardian of creativity and innovation. It is a legal right granted to creators and owners of original, intellectual, and creative works.
During a set amount of time, they have unrestricted permission to make copies, show their work publicly, or license it to others. This protection encompasses a diverse range of artistic and intellectual works, from books and paintings to music and software.
Copyright law provides a framework that promotes the production of new and original works by offering creators financial benefits and the ability to determine how their works are used.
By safeguarding creators’ rights, copyright encourages the continued growth and evolution of artistic expression and helps to maintain a thriving creative economy.
In essence, it is a powerful force that celebrates and protects the unique and imaginative works of our society.
A few examples of works that can be protected by copyright are mentioned below:
Although many works can be protected by copyright, some categories of things are not eligible for protection under copyright statutes.
This law only covers how an idea or fact is expressed, not the idea or fact itself. Therefore, you cannot copyright an idea or a fact.
For instance, you cannot claim ownership of the concept of a robot that can travel through time. However, you can secure legal protection for a story that incorporates that concept.
Similarly, a mathematical equation or formula cannot be copyrighted. However, a book that explains how to apply it may be eligible for copyright protection.
Suggested Reading: How to copyright a mathematical formula?
The ownership of copyright bestows creators with a major advantage in the marketplace, enabling them to prevent unauthorised use or reproduction of their work by others.
This gives creators the ability to license their works to others for a fee, which can generate substantial revenue streams.
Some of the importance of copyright is discussed below:
Copyright provides creators with a financial incentive to create and share their works, which helps to drive innovation and creativity.
Copyright protection gives creators control over their works, allowing them to decide how their works are used, distributed, and reproduced.
It protects the economic interests of creators and their partners, allowing them to profit from their works and invest in new projects.
Copyright protection can help to maintain quality standards by ensuring that only authorised copies of works are produced and distributed.
It helps to support a thriving and diverse creative industry by protecting works of creative expression and encouraging investment in new works.
It plays a critical role in preserving works of cultural significance, ensuring that they are properly attributed, preserved, and made available for future generations.
It helps to promote learning and education by ensuring that creators are fairly compensated for their works, and by facilitating access to educational resources.
It can help encourage innovation and technological advancement by providing creators with the legal protection they need to invest in new projects.
By providing a common framework for the protection of intellectual property rights, copyright can help encourage international trade and cooperation, fostering economic growth and development.
The rights of a copyright holder are outlined in the Indian copyright law and include the following:
Overall, the sole owners have a range of rights that protect their intellectual property and allow them to control how their works are used, distributed, and reproduced. Such rights are bestowed upon the rightful owner irrespective of the copyright registration.
The duration of copyright for creative works such as literature, theatre, music, and the visual arts is the author’s lifetime.
The term applies for sixty years following the date of publication to other works, including cinematograph films, visual recordings, pictures, posthumous publications, and more.
The copyright period lasts for 25 years after the broadcast’s production, in the case of broadcasting.
Copyright infringement is when someone uses, copies, shares, or changes a work that is protected by copyright law without permission from the person who created it.
Making copies, producing derivative works, showing the work in public, or any other type of unlawful usage are all examples.
“Infringing copy” refers to a copy of a creative work that is made or imported in violation of the Copyright Act. The specific definition of infringing copy depends on the type of work in question:
In all cases, the copy is considered infringing if it is made or imported in violation of the provisions of the Copyright Act.
Infringement against copyright happens in India when:
Some of the examples of copyright breaches are listed below:
Copyright infringement can be classified into primary and secondary infringement.
Primary infringement occurs when someone directly copies or reproduces a copyrighted work without the owner’s consent.
On the other hand, secondary infringement occurs when someone contributes to or facilitates the infringement by another person, such as by distributing, importing, or selling pirated copies of copyrighted works.
Unlike primary infringement, the copyright infringer may or may not be aware of the violation in secondary infringement.
For instance, a seller may unknowingly sell pirated copies of copyrighted works, but if caught, they can be held liable for secondary copyright infringement.
In contrast, in primary infringement, the infringer is aware of their violation because they are the ones who directly copy or reproduce the copyrighted work without permission.
Note: Under India’s Copyright Act of 1957, copyright infringement constitutes a criminal offense, susceptible to imprisonment and monetary penalties.
Certain actions do not constitute an infringement. Certain activities and uses of works protected by copyright are permitted without the owner’s consent.
In India, some of the following actions do not constitute infringement:
Keep in mind: In today’s digital world, be cautious when downloading, sharing, or uploading content online. Always check the source and ensure you have the right to use the material.
In the realm of law and government, several parties are empowered to launch legal actions in cases of copyright infringement. These include:
You’re at the right place, contact us to know more.
In India, there have been several cases of infringement of copyright over the years. Some of the famous copyright infringement cases are detailed below:
In the case of Microsoft Corporation v Deepak Raval in 2006, internet piracy was the issue at hand.
The plaintiff argued that their intellectual property rights were severely violated due to various forms of copyright infringement.
This includes the replication of their software and the bundling of that software, which misled customers into believing that they were buying authentic software.
Additionally, the defendant had also copied the plaintiff’s software onto a blank disc.
The Delhi High Court found the defendant guilty and awarded exemplary damages worth 12 lacs, as claimed in the lawsuit.
Dabur India Ltd. v K.R. Industries is a significant case related to copyright infringement in India.
The Supreme Court, in this case, stressed that if someone is found guilty of infringement, they must pay for the damages caused.
To determine these damages, it may be necessary to account for the harm caused. That’s why the term “otherwise” has been used in the law.
This means that if there’s any other legal reason for the court to intervene under Section 55(1) of the Copyright Act, 1957, the court can grant remedies.
The court further clarified that an action for passing off is a common law right and does not determine the jurisdiction of the court.
For the court to exercise such jurisdiction, the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure would be applicable. The Act of 1957 is a special law that would, therefore, take precedence over the general law, which is the Code.
In this case, the Supreme Court provided an important interpretation of the law related to infringement and highlighted the remedies available to the actual copyright holder.
In this particular instance, the plaintiff claimed that the defendant had infringed on their Marathi song and used it in their film titled “Dream Girl.”
Defendants argued that the music in question from their film was only two lines played with the proper credits at the conclusion and was not a component of the movie.
In this legal dispute over copyright infringement of a song, the defendant argued that only a portion of the song was in question and that the rest of the song was original and unique, with a different theme.
They claimed that this portion of the song was at best an adaptive or transformative work, and not a direct copy of the copyrighted song.
Therefore, they argued that any damages that the plaintiff might claim in the suit should be limited, as the alleged infringement was restricted to only a part of the song.
According to the court’s ruling, since the defendants have already admitted to the plaintiff’s ownership and rights over the song in question, even if it is just at the initial stage of the case, the principles of estoppel would come into play and the title of the plaintiff should be recognised for the time being.
The court added that the music in the defendants’ upcoming movie includes the first song for which the plaintiff asserts copyright, and as a result, infringement has been proven, according to the court.
The plaintiff met the requirements of irreparable harm and balance of convenience. The court did award damages for the music in question, but only injunctions because the movie had not yet been released.
Suggested Reading: How to Use a Song Without Copyright Infringement?
Because the defendants had copied the plaintiffs’ film “Band Baja Barat” for their film “Zabardast,” the plaintiffs in this case, in addition to seeking other remedies such as a rendition of account and an injunction, demanded monetary damages in the amount of 20 lac.
The plaintiff claimed that the story, the manner the storyline developed, the handling of the theme, and the expression of those themes in the plaintiff’s movie had been flagrantly copied in the contested movie.
According to her, there were significant and material similarities between the plaintiff’s film and the defendants’ movie in terms of theme, idea, storyline, character specifications, story, script, structure, and expression, among other things.
After giving careful consideration to the pertinent facts and circumstances of the case, the judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff and issued multiple remedies, one of which was monetary compensation for copyright violations in the amount of 20 lac.
Britannia, a well-known biscuit maker, filed a case against ITC Ltd, accusing them of trademark infringement and passing off.
The lawsuit was filed to stop ITC from manufacturing or selling digestive biscuits in their current packaging.
According to Britannia, ITC’s packaging for “Sunfeast Farmlite 5-Seed Digestive Biscuits” was confusingly similar to their own “Nutri Choice Digestive” biscuit packaging in terms of the packaging’s trade dress, color scheme, layout, and arrangement of features.
Despite Britannia’s claims that ITC’s packaging was misleadingly similar, a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court held that the packaging for ITC’s “Sunfeast Farmlite 5-Seed Digestive” biscuits was not deceptively similar to that of Britannia’s product, at least at a prima facie level.
The Delhi High Court, in its verdict, emphasised that the perception of the average human mind, not just an idiot or amnesiac, is to be taken into consideration in cases of trademark infringement and passing off.
The court pointed out that the mind of an average person is not conditioned to only notice similarities and overlook differences.
The customer would not be confused between the two packagings unless they are situated at a great distance so that they could only see the colors and not the distinctive features of the packaging.
As a result, the court rejected Britannia’s claim, refusing to grant any relief on such grounds.
Suggested Reading: Legal Cases That Protect Brands Against Trademark Infringement
The owner of the copyright may file a lawsuit against anyone who violates the terms of anyone’s copyrighted works.
They can file a civil lawsuit in a court of competent jurisdiction to seek remedies such as damages, injunctions, and accountings.
Alternatively, they may choose to bring a criminal proceeding before a First Class Judicial Magistrate or a Metropolitan Magistrate.
If a corporation or LLP violates intellectual property rights, both the entity itself and the person responsible for its actions or in control at the time of the infringement may be held liable.
Civil remedies for copyright infringement typically involve the owner of the copyright seeking compensation or other forms of relief from the infringing party through a civil lawsuit. The remedies available to the rightful holder in such cases may include:
An injunction is a common remedy for copyright infringement, which involves a court order that prohibits the infringer from continuing their infringing activities or requires them to restore the original state before the infringement occurred.
Damages are an important civil remedy in cases of infringement, as they serve to compensate the copyright holder for the harm suffered due to the infringement.
The purpose of damages for copyright infringement is to restore the owner to the position they would have been in had the infringement not occurred.
The number of damages awarded can be based on various factors, including the amount of revenue lost by the copyright holder as a result of the infringement, any profits gained by the infringer, and the impact of the infringement on the owner’s reputation and sales.
Ultimately, the goal is to provide fair and just compensation for the owner’s losses.
When an owner’s work is infringed upon, they may seek an account of profits from the infringer. This is a legal remedy that requires the infringer to provide an account of the profits they have made from the infringing acts.
The copyright holder can then be awarded an amount equivalent to the profits made by the infringer as compensation for the loss of profit suffered.
Under the Copyright Act of 1957, intentionally infringing or aiding in the infringement of a copyrighted work is illegal.
In cases of violation under the copyright act of 1957,
In the case of a repeated criminal offense, the punishment is more severe, with a minimum sentence of one year and a maximum term of three years in prison, along with a minimum fine of Rs. 1 lakh and a maximum of Rs. 2 lakhs.
When a police officer suspects an infringement, they have the authority to confiscate the infringing copies without a warrant and present them to the Magistrate.
There are several ways to avoid the infringement of exclusive ownership rights:
Tip:The most secure way to avoid infringement is to create your own original work. This includes written content, music, images, videos, and other creative expressions.
Bytescare aids in preventing copyright infringement through various means.
It employs sophisticated algorithms to continuously monitor online platforms for instances of copyrighted material, spanning websites, social media, and file-sharing networks.
By swiftly detecting unauthorised use, Bytescare safeguards copyrighted works.
It utilises digital watermarking to uniquely identify such content, enabling precise tracking across the digital landscape.
Bytescare automates the process of issuing takedown requests to hosting platforms upon detecting infringement, expediting removal.
Additionally, it offers robust analytics and reporting tools, empowering copyright holders to assess infringement patterns and devise effective protection strategies.
Are you prepared to make the next move to simplify, reduce the cost, and improve the effectiveness of copyright infringement prevention and protection? Book a demo to see how the Bytescare digital protection solution may automatically detect and eliminate unauthorised content.
Infringement of copyright in India is a serious issue that can have significant consequences for both creators and infringers.
Understanding the copyright laws, knowing the different types of infringement, and being aware of the consequences are crucial for anyone dealing with copyrighted material.
Preventing infringement requires a combined effort of raising awareness, educating the public, and providing effective legal recourse.
Copyright is a legal right granted to creators and owners of original, intellectual, and creative works, giving them exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, or license their work for a specified period.
Breach of copyright refers to the unauthorised use, reproduction, or distribution of copyrighted material, without permission from the actual copyright owner.
Examples include piracy, plagiarism, unauthorised distribution/sales, and sampling without permission. It is important to seek permission or obtain legal advice to avoid infringing on someone else’s intellectual property.
The Indian Copyright Act of 1957, provides legal protection to various creative works, grants exclusive rights to creators, protects moral rights, and includes fair dealing provisions for specific uses of copyrighted works.
Direct infringement involves unauthorised reproduction, distribution, performance, or display of a copyrighted work, while indirect infringement occurs when a person or entity facilitates, enables, or contributes to the infringement of protected work by another party.
The consequences of infringement of copyright in India can include civil remedies such as injunctions, damages, or accounts of profits, as well as criminal penalties like imprisonment, fines, or both.
Preventing copyright infringement requires raising awareness about copyright laws, educating creators, users, and businesses, and ensuring efficient legal recourse for copyright holders.
Online copyright infringement refers to the unauthorised use of copyrighted material over the Internet.
It occurs when someone uses or reproduces copyrighted material, such as music, movies, videos, images, software, or written content, without permission from the owner, and then distributes or makes that material available online.
For example:
1. Downloading and sharing copyrighted material without permission from the creator.
2. Uploading and distributing copyrighted material without permission from the owner.
3. Streaming or broadcasting copyrighted material without permission from the owner of the copyright.
Copyright is a crucial concept that gives creators the right to use, distribute, and display their original work.
It also enables them to allow or prohibit others from using their work without their permission.
This protection is essential for encouraging creativity, promoting innovation, and ensuring that artists, authors, musicians, and other creators can earn a living from their work.
Once a creative work has met the requirements of being original and fixed in a tangible medium of expression, it is then eligible for protection.
The enforcement of copyright is crucial to ensure that the creator’s rights to their work are respected and upheld. This includes the right to reproduce, distribute, display, and perform the work, as well as the right to create derivative works.
The infringement can result in legal action, which may include damages and injunctions to prevent further unauthorised use of the protected work.
If someone violates the rights of creators, he/she has the right to take legal action for copyright infringement to enforce their rights and seek damages for any losses they have suffered.
Infringing can result in significant penalties, including monetary damages, injunctions, and even criminal charges in some cases. It is essential to respect copyright law and obtain permission before using someone else’s creative work.
In the case of R. G. Anand vs. Delux Pictures, AIR 1978 SC 1613, the Supreme Court found that the plaintiff did not have reasonable grounds for claiming copyright over the theme, concept, subject matter, plot, or historical fact used in the defendant’s work.
The court ruled that the infringement only applies to the expression or organisation of an idea, and not to the idea itself.
The provisions for taking a civil action against the violation of copyright are outlined in Section 55 of the Copyright Act.
In other words, if someone has violated a copyright, the owner of that copyright can pursue legal action in civil court to seek a remedy for the infringement.
Unless proven otherwise, the author or publisher whose name appears on a work of literature, theatre, music, or the arts is believed to be the actual author of such works.
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