This paper explains both economic and moral rights of the author under the Copyright Act, 1957. The authors of copyright enjoy “economic rights”, u/s 14 of the Act mainly, in respect of literary, dramatic and musical, other than computer program, to reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means, to issue copies of the work to the public, to perform the work in public or communicating it to the public, to make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work, and to make any translation or adaptation of the work. Section 57 of the Act defines the two basic “moral rights” of an author. These are: (i) Right of paternity, and (ii) Right of integrity. The right of paternity refers to a right of an author to claim authorship of work and a right to prevent all others from claiming authorship of his work. Right of integrity empowers the author to prevent distortion, mutilation or other alterations of his work, or any other action in relation to said work, which would be prejudicial to his honour or reputation. The paper also explains about the response of Indian Judiciary regarding copyright protection and the future of copyright in India.

Copyright is a form of intellectual property protection granted under Indian law to the creators of original works of authorship such as literary works (including computer programs, tables and compilations including computer databases which may be expressed in words, codes, schemes or in any other form, including a machine readable medium), dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematographic films and sound recordings.

Copyright law protects expressions of ideas rather than the ideas themselves. Under copyright law in India, copyright protection is conferred on literary works, dramatic works, musical works, artistic works, cinematograph films and sound recording. For example, books, computer programs are protected under the Act as literary works.

Copyright refers to a bundle of exclusive rights vested in the owner of copyright by virtue of the copy right law in India.These rights can be exercised only by the owner of copyright or by any other person who is duly licensed in this regard by the owner of copyright. These rights include the right of adaptation, right of reproduction, right of publication, right to make translations, communication to public etc.

Copyright protection is conferred on all original work. Original means, that the work has not been copied from any other source. Copyright protection commences the moment a work is created, and its registration is optional. However it is always advisable to obtain a registration for a better protection. Copyright registration does not confer any rights and is merely a prima facie proof of an entry in respect of the work in the Copyright Register maintained by the Registrar of Copyrights. As per the Copy Right Law, the author or creator of the work is the first owner of copyright. An exception to this rule is that, the employer becomes the owner of copyright in circumstances where the employee creates a work in the course of and scope of employment. One of the supreme advantages of copyright protectionis that protection is available in several countries across the world, although the work is first published in India by reason of India being a member of Berne Convention.

 Protection is given to works first published in India, in respect of all countries that are member states to treaties and conventions to which India is a member. Thus, without formally applying for protection, copyright protection is available to works first published in India, across several countries. Also, the government of India has by virtue of the International Copyright Order, 1999, extended copyright protection to works first published outside India.

INDIAN JUDICIARY RESPONSE The response of Indian judiciary regarding copyright protection can be grouped under the following headings: (1) Ownership of copyright: The ownership in copyright may vest in different persons under different circumstances. In Godrej Soaps (P) Ltd v Dora Cosmetics Co., the Delhi High Court (Suit Appeal No. 85 of 1987) held that where the carton was designed for valuable consideration by a person in the course of his employment for and on behalf of the plaintiff and the defendant had led no evidence in his favour, the plaintiff is the assignee and the legal owner of copyright in the carton including the logo. (2) Jurisdictional aspect: The question of territorial jurisdiction of the court to deal with copyright infringement was considered by the courts on several occasions. In Lachhman Das Behari Lal v Padam Trading Co, the Delhi High Court observed that the plaintiff being a firm functioning at Delhi, the suit filed by it in the Delhi courts is maintainable and is not liable to be rejected under Order 7 Rule 11 of the CPC as prayed. The Court further observed that the plea regarding want of territorial jurisdiction is not covered by Order 7 rule 11 of CPC. The court observed that even if it is held that this court has not the territorial jurisdiction, the plaint cannot be rejected. At the most it can be returned for presentation to the proper court. (3) Cognizance taken by the court: To prevent copyright infringement, timely cognizance taking by the appropriate court is absolutely essential. The taking of cognizance by the court depends upon the limitation period as mentioned in the Limitation Act, 1963 and Cr.P.C, 1973. In Shree Devendra Somabhai Naik v Accurate Transheet Pvt Ltd, the Gujarat High Court explained the inter-relationship between Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 and section 50 of the Copyright Act, 1957. (4) Infringement of copyright: A copyright owner cannot enjoy his rights unless infringement of the same is stringently dealt with by the Courts .The approach of the Indian Judiciary in this regard is very satisfactory. In Prakashak Puneet Prashant Prakashan v Distt. Judge, Bulandshahr and Ashok Prakashan (Regd), the Allahabad High Court held that if the petitioner publishes a book by adding any word before or after the book “Bal Bharati”, he infringes the copyright of the respondent. (5) Availability of alternative remedy: The availability of an efficacious alternative remedy prevents a person from invoking the writ jurisdiction of the High court. (6) Rectification of copyright: In the rectification proceedings, an entry in the Copyright Register pertaining to a particular copyright can be expunged by the Copyright Board. III. THE FUTURE OF COPYRIGHT IN INDIA The copyright laws in India are set to be amended with the introduction of the provisions for anti-circumvention and Rights Management Information in the Indian copyright regime although India is under no obligation to introduce these changes as it is not a signatory to WCT or WPPT. With the amendment of the Copyright Act in 1994, which came into force on 10 May 1995, the situation with regard to copyright enforcement in India has improved. According to Ramdas Bhatkal of Popular Prakashan, Bombay, “We had problems of piracy relating to medical textbooks before the law was amended. At that time we found that while the law may be on our side, it was necessary to get a court order for search and this meant that there was sufficient notice to the pirate to take defensive action before the court order could be implemented. Therefore we preferred to accept the situation and did nothing. Since the changes which make copyright violation a cognizable offence it has been possible to use the legal mechanism as a deterrent.” The Indian Copyright Act8 provides that “Any police officer, not below the rank of a sub-inspector, may, if he is satisfied that an offence under Section 63 in respect of the infringement of copyright in any work has been, is being, or is likely to be, committed, seize without warrant, all copies of the work, wherever found, and all copies and plates used for the purpose of making infringing copies of the work, wherever found, and all copies and plates so seized shall, as soon as practicable, be produced before a magistrate.” Copying a book is similar to stealing somebody’s jewellery. Large scale organized copying is like robbing a jeweller’s shop or a bank. But then, there is a major difference.

Another area of copyright infringement which needs to be tightened up relates to protection of author’s rights vis-avis the assignee or the licensee. There is need to develop a model contract, too, which should also provide protection for the author’s rights in the fast changing scenario of electronic publishing, Internet, etc.

In the case of a bank robbery the newspapers are full of sensational news and the whole might of the State, especially the police, jumps in to catch the culprit, there is pressure of public opinion even on the judge trying the case. The effect is electric. On the other hand, in the case of a book pirate, the police justify their inaction by pointing to murder dockets; the State deflects the desperate appeals of Copyright owners with nonchalance and the judge sits with a `so what’ attitude while the man on the street remains in stark oblivion. “The copyright does not protect the idea but it does protect the skill and the labour put in by the authors in producing the work. A person cannot be held liable for infringement of copyright if he has taken only the idea involved in the work and given expression to the idea in his own way. Two authors can produce two different works from a common source of information each of them arranging that information in his own way and using his own language. The arrangement of the information and the language used should not be copied from a work in which copyright subsists.” Before I conclude, I must make it clear that despite the variety of cases given in this paper, there is not much piracy of books in India. By and large, to save their business interests, publishers and distributors try to enforce copyright to the best of their abilities. Yet, piracy hurts them hard because the books which get pirated invariably are the few with good margin and high demand. Deprived of the profits from such bestsellers the book industry starved of the much needed capital for growth and investment in literary works of significance but low sales potential, especially by up-coming authors. Harsher measures are therefore needed to curb piracy. Another area of copyright infringement which needs to be tightened up relates to protection of author’s rightsvis-a-vis the assignee or the licensee.

There is need to develop a model contract, too, which should also provide protection for the author’s rights in the fast changing scenario of electronic publishing, Internet, etc.

IV. CONCLUSION The provisions of the above mentioned two enactments show that the Copyright protection in India is strong and effective enough to take care of the Copyright of the concerned person. The protection extends not only to the Copyright as understood in the traditional sense but also in its modern aspect. Thus, on-line copyright issues are also adequately protected, though not in clear and express term. To meet the ever- increasing challenges, as posed by the changed circumstances and latest technology, the existing law can be so interpreted that all facets of copyright are adequately covered. This can be achieved by applying the purposive interpretation” technique, which requires the existing law to be interpreted in such a manner as justice is done in the fact and circumstances of the case. Alternatively, existing laws should be amended as per the requirements of the situation. The Information Technology Act, 2000 requires a new outlook and orientation, which can be effectively used to meet the challenges posed by the Intellectual Property Rights regime in this age of information technology. Till the country has such a sound and strong legal base for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights, the judiciary should play an active role in the protection of these rights, including the copyright. The situation is, however, not as alarming as it is perceived and the existing legal system can effectively take care of any problems associated with copyright infringement.

-Dr. Shipra Gupta