The author of a work shall be the original owner of the copyright, as stated in Section 17[1] of the Copyright Act, 1957. According to the Act, “Author” refers to the following:

1. The author of a literary or dramatic work;
2. The composer of a musical work;
3. The artist of a work of art other than a photograph;
4. The person who took the photograph;
5. The producer of a cinematograph film or sound recording; and
6. The author of any literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work which is co-authored.

As a result, we can identify the following as the copyright holders:

• In musical records, the lyricist, composer, singer, musician, and the individual or business that created the recording are all listed.
• In works by journalists during their employment: in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, the proprietor
• Without any agreement to the contrary, the person at whose instance the work is produced has all rights to works produced for valuable consideration.
• The general rule that the author of work should be the initial owner of the copyright is subject to some circumstances, or to put it another way, exceptions. The Proviso to Section 17 of the Copyright Act lists these situations.

For instance, in the case of a literary, dramatic, or artistic work created by the author while employed by the owner of a newspaper, magazine, or similar periodical under a contract of service or apprenticeship, said owner shall (in the absence of any agreement to the contrary) be the first owner of the copyright in the work in so far as the copyright relates to the publication of the work in any newspaper, magazine or same work. However, in all other regards, the author shall be the initial owner of the copyright in the work. This does not apply to publication in a magazine or similar periodical, or the replication of the work to be so published.

Authorship of Copyright

Even when someone else came up with the overall concept for the work, an author is someone who writes, compiles, composes, and/or illustrates it. The idea of an author was developed because, unless the person who had the original, great idea was also the person who created the work, they did not own the copyright to it. Under the Copyright Act of 1957, an author’s entitlement to copyright is not primarily based on their country.

However, Section 13 (2)[2] of the Copyright Act, 1957 outlines several fundamental prerequisites for the establishment of copyright.

The following are the critical conditions under Section 13(2) of the Copyright Act of 1957:

1. A Published Piece

The work must be published in India, or if it is published outside of India, the creator of the work must be an Indian citizen at the time of publishing, if they were living at the time, or at the time of their death if they were deceased.

• The Unpublished Work

The author of work should be considered to be a citizen or domiciled in, the country of which they were a citizen or wherein they were domiciled for any substantial part of that time period, according to Section 7[3] of the Copyright Act, 1957, where the making of the work was extended for a significant amount of time.

• Architectural work

Only if the author’s architectural work is situated in India will it be protected by copyright under Indian law, specifically the Copyright Act of 1957.

In accordance with Section 2(ffa)[4] of the Copyright Act of 1957, a “Composer” of a musical work is defined as any individual who creates the music, regardless of whether they record it in pictorial notation or not. However, unless the composition of a musical work is documented in some way, such as musical notation or another, the definition of the composer may not allow him or her to demonstrate their originality.

A “musical work” is defined as a work that incorporates music and any graphical notation of that work but does not include any words or actions intended to be spoken, sung, or performed in conjunction with the music, according to Section 2(p)[5] of the Copyright Act of 1957.

Rights of Author-

• Right to reproduce work

• The author’s most fundamental right is this one. According to the 1957 Copyright Act, the author may duplicate his work or grant others permission to do so. Without the author’s explicit consent, no one else is permitted to reproduce his work. The issue of whether or not literary works can be adapted for the screen was raised in the case of Star India (P) Ltd. v. Leo Burnett India (P) Ltd.[6] Because it resembled the title of a show, “Kyon Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi,” Tide’s “Kyon Ki Bahu Bhi Kabhi Saas Banegi” logo caused controversy. Holding, it was illegal.

• Right to adaptation and translation of work

• The author is free to transform his writing into different formats. The author can adapt any work into many forms, such as turning a book into a play, movie, or going from a two-dimensional to a three-dimensional format. The author has complete control over the creation process once the material has been altered. If those who are replicating the work want to condense it, they must obtain the author’s permission.

• Right to distribute copies of work or commercial rental

• It entails making the work available to the public for renting, sale, lending, etc. Distribution is the act of passing copies of a work from one person to another. It is the sole property of the person who owns the work. In this situation, the doctrine of exhaustion is relevant. According to this, the author’s licence to distribute copies of his work lasts only as long as the first copy is sold. However, the right is forfeited once the copyright period has expired.

• Right of public performance

• Unless otherwise stated or allowed by him, only the original author of the copy has the right to a public performance. Anyone who does so without the author’s permission must face severe punishment. Anyone who does this without his permission is subject to legal action by the plaintiff.

• Right to broadcast work
• Broadcasting is the process of sending data across wireless networks. Broadcasting is defined by Indian copyright law as “communication to the public by any means of wireless dissemination, whether in any one or more of the forms of signs, sounds, or visual pictures; by wire and includes a re-broadcast.”

The author also has the right to uphold and defend his moral rights. Under copyright law, the author may defend his intellectual property.

[1] Indian Kanoon (Section 19 of Copyright Act)- https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1404402/

[2] Indian Kanoon (Section 19 of Copyright Act)- https://indiankanoon.org/doc/4010217/

[3] Indian Kanoon (Section 07 of Copyright Act)- https://indiankanoon.org/doc/547913/

[4] Indian Kanoon (Section 2 (ffa) of Copyright Act)- https://indiankanoon.org/doc/797096/

[5] Indian Kanoon (Section 02(p) of Copyright Act)- https://indiankanoon.org/doc/797096/

[6] Citation- 2003 (2) BomCR 655, 2003 (27) PTC 81 Bom (https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1271015/)

Aishwarya Says:

If you are a lawyer or a law student who is looking for a job, then you can find details about the latest openings here.

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

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In the year 2021, we wrote about 1000 Inspirational Women In India, in the year 2022, we would be featuring 5000 Start Up Stories.