OVERVIEW OF COPYRIGHT
The term copyright is a combination of two words – ‘copy’ and ‘right’. To be more accurate copyright simply means ‘right to copy’, wherein only the creator/owner or his authorised person has a right to reproduce the work. Therefore in simple words, it is a legal right which is in possession to the owner of Intellectual property is termed as copyright.
In the need to better understand the concept of copyright the elaboration of the term must be taken into consideration. With the assist of a significant intellectual or mental ability, when an individual creates a unique product then such product is viewed to be original. The unique creations such as following websites, computer software, musical lyrics, art, literature, novels, original architectural design, films, poetry, graphic designs, musical compositions, etc. Further, the copyright being a safeguard protects an original work from getting pirated or duplicated.
When any such work is exclusively created by the independent intellect of a creator or owner without any duplication of such work is called Original Work of Authorship (OWA). Anyone who is the original creator of any invented work has inherited right over it and can also prevent it from anyone else to use it or copy it or replicate it for their use.
The creator can voluntarily register themselves for the copyright of the invention if they wish too and want to have a secure end and further have an upper hand in the legal system. By registration, the creator can further file a suit against any individual or corporation for replicating his work.
Concept ideas such as discoveries, slogans, theories, brand names, logos, concepts, domain name and tiles are all excluded from the purview of copyright and falls under the category of trademarks and patents. The copyright needs to be written down in a physical form for any speech, idea, discovery etc.
This concept provides the creators and the artist legal remedy to work fearlessly and create original products, which are not subjected to replication by any other person.
EVOLUTION OF CONCEPT OF COPYRIGHT IN INDIA
Pre-independence
The evolution of copyright law in India can be traced back to the East India Company’s regime in 1847. During that time, the work conducted was not don automatically and the compulsory registration with the Home office was necessary to enforce the copyright. Earlier term of copyright extended to the lifetime of the owner in addition to the seven-years of post-mortem. In the year 1914 a new copyright legislation was passed in the nation with few modifications which are as mentioned:
The legislation of 1914 continued till the arrival of new legislation in 1957 i.e. post-independence era.
Post-independence
In the year, 1957 a new Copyright law was enacted. Under the Act of 1957, the Act of 1914 was prevalent, which also was an extension of the British Copyright Act, 1911. Further in May 2012 the Parliament of India unanimously a bill was passed in both the houses named as Copyright Amendment Bill, 2012. This Bill focuses to bring Indian copyright laws at the international level and also complied with the World Intellectual Property Organisation treaties such as the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performance and Programme Treaty (WPPT). Hence, the main highlights of the 2012 Amendment bill are as mentioned:
