Copyright Overview
Human capability and high intellect go beyond imagination time and time again since our origins. Over a long period of history, it was felt that such intellectual creations must be safeguarded, and exclusive rights must be provided to the creator.
When a person creates a fiction, art, or a musical composition, copyright law promises exclusive rights over that content to the creator. Copyright provides absolute rights of use and distribution for a specific period of time. The Copyright Office of India controls, handles, and maintains copyright protection at a central level.
With rapid innovations in technology, new and different types of content creation are now possible and popular. The style and content of artistic creation might have changed, yet the true protective nature of copyright remains the same.
What is Copyright Protection?
Copyright is the absolute right of ownership provided to the creator of a work. The creation may be of many kinds, including but not limited to literary art, musical compositions, cinematographic recordings, or architectural designs.
Copyright basically protects the expression of ideas rather than the ideas themselves. In India, the exclusive rights of creation are governed by The Copyright Act of 1957 (last amended in 2012). The absolute rights over the creation give the creator authority to control the use, distribution, and commercialization of the work for a specific period of time.
International Reciprocity
Copyright in India is administered by the Copyright Office of India, providing territorial rights to the creator. However, India is a member party of various international treaties like the Berne Convention, the Rome Convention, and the TRIPS Agreement. The laws of copyright in India are aligned with global standards through these conventions, ensuring reciprocal protection in member states.
Why Should You Get Copyright Protection?
Copyright provides an absolute right to use, which is inclusive of the right to reproduce the work, distribute copies, and translate it into different languages.
The security provided by copyright to someone's artistic or creative efforts encourages creativity. It inspires people to create more and acts as a motivator for ongoing artistic and economic development, which is highly dependent on innovation.
Scope & Exclusions of Copyright
Copyright applies to a vast range of creative, intellectual, and artistic works requiring a minimum level of creativity:
Key Exclusions and Duration
Duration of Protection: For a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work, the copyright exists for the whole life of the artist and 60 years beyond the artist's life (Note: originally stated in general international benchmarks as life + 70 years, but governed in India as life + 60 years).
Exclusions: In India, there are certain spheres of work for which one cannot claim copyright protection, such as raw facts, abstract ideas, mathematical concepts, systems, and methods of operations.
Our Copyright Services
Excelon IP offers an exhaustive range of copyright services tailored for software creators, developers, authors, and designers: