HOW TO REGISTER A COPYRIGHT IN INDIA?

HOW TO REGISTER A COPYRIGHT IN INDIA?

Author :- Anant Shankar

HOW TO REGISTER A COPYRIGHT IN INDIA?

Before understanding how to Copyright a property we need to understand, what Copyright is.

Copyright is a type of intellectual property that provides an owner the right to make copies of his work, for time being. The work may include music, artwork, technology, or any educational form.

In India, Copyright Registration is done under the Copyright Act, 1957, and Copyright Rules 2013. In layman’s term, Copyright is the Right to copy a work form. And it also prohibits the people from copying the work without the permission of the owner. Here, the owner can grant the right to certain people or entities for the same purpose.

Benefits of Copyright in India

After registering for the copyright for books, music, software, technology piece, etc. gives the owner certain benefits as follows:

• After the property is registered for Copyright, the public domain puts up the details of the work and the owner’s name, guaranteeing his ownership.
• The owner of the property can sue the people or entity which tries to copy the product of the owner or uses it without his consent. 
• It also protects the owner from any import made that is similar to his work, as the copyright is updated with the Indian customs.
• The registered work can be used to produce any by-products or some alternatives 
• Copyright can be sold to anyone with no strings attached.
• It gives the right to the owner to exhibit his work or property.

Registration Process in India

Step 1: As for all registration, the copyright registration has to file and fill in the particular form with the Copyright Registrar, having the various particulars of the work. 

The form is of many types depending upon the type of the work which is being registered for the copyright.

Basic details are asked about the work and the full details of the work and other signed documents are returned to the applicant and one copy is kept at the Copyright Office, in a fully discrete manner.

Step 2: Forms should be properly filled and with true details and it shall be submitted by the Advocate under whose name Power of Attorney has been executed. And the same will be submitted electronically. 

Step 3: The applicant is issued with a Diary Number.

Step 4: There are 30 days of mandatory waiting for objections or discrepancies.

Step 5: If any objections or discrepancies are found, a letter is sent to both the parties, and hearing by Registrar is scheduled. Once the objections or discrepancies are done away with, the property shall be registered and the Copyright Office will issue the Extracts of Register of Copyrights (ROC) i.e. REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE.

Step 6: Issuance of Certificate of Copyright, once every process and verification are complete and approved, the owner will be intimated with the acknowledgment and Copyright Certificate. 

The validity of Copyright Registration 

The validity of the Copyright Registration Certificate is normally valid for 70 years, in some cases 70, 90, or 120 years. The nature of the ownership is also a factor in the validity of the certificate.

Documents Required for Copyright Registration 

For hassle-free registration for Copyright one must need the following documents:

• Name, address, and nationality of the owner or publisher (depending upon the work or property)
• Title/Name of the property
• Language of the work or other details depending upon the nature of the property 
• Details of the work if it is adaptation or alternatives of another work 
• Country of origin and year of production of the property 
• In the case of two names or co-authorship, NOC from that person
• TM-60 (NOC from the Trademark Office), if applicable 
• 3 copies of work
• Special power of Attorney 

Scope of Copyright Protection

The Copyright Act, 1957 prohibits the use of any authentic and original work or property. The property whether it is out in market for the first time or before coming into the market can be copyrighted. The same can be done for any property or published work before 21^st January 1958, before the Act came into existence.

To sum it up 

The Copyright Registration is now hassle-free with the help of E-Governance, and online procedures one can easily do the basic registration process to get a date of hearing and thereof.

Rest one can also approach a lawyer or 3rd party agencies for such a process with nominal fees.

HOW TO REGISTER A COPYRIGHT IN INDIA?