What Are The Powers Of Copyright Society?

Mar 13, 2023

805 4 mins

In this article, we will know about what a copyright society is and what its powers are. But we go into the details of the same, let’s know what a Copyright is all about.

Copyright law or copyright has become essential today. As there are many people out there who are trying to misuse or exploit the work of the people who are extremely talented and are the rightful owners. However, along with the copyright law, the owners need an organization that can safeguard the interests of the owner’s or author’s work in case of copyright infringement and other issues. This organization or society is the Copyright Public Performance society. Noe, what is a copyright society, and what are its powers? Let’s learn in detail.

What is a Copyright Society?

The copyright societies are legal bodies that help in protecting and safeguarding the interests of the rightful owners of the creative work. They provide a license of copyright in original work for re-production, issuing copies of the work, and locating infringement of the same. With the commencement of the copyright act, in 1994 the provisions related to the copyright societies and their powers are stated in the act. The copyright society was started to overcome the difficulties of the owners of the creative work by preventing infringement, tracking the uses of their work by others, etc. now that we know what a copyright society is, let us learn about the powers of the copyright society.

Indian Copyright society

The copyright society in India is governed under the copyright act of 1957. Society is formed by authors and other owners. The copyright society is dedicated to literary works and there are other copyright societies dedicated to other works. Society is registered for 5 years. Further, it can be renewed every five years through a request that is accepted by the central government. Some of the copyright societies registered in India are the Copyright society for Cinematograph Films, the Indian performing arts society (Musical works), Phonographic performance limited (Sound recording), and Literary work (the Indian reprographic right organization). The registration of the copyright society is done by the central government based on the observations like the interest of the public and the people who are seeking licenses for their creative works. Further, the government also observes the benefit of the owners and authors and the competence of the applicants.

Powers of the Copyright Society

According to section 34 of the copyright act, the powers of the copyright society are to accept the authority of any copyrighted work from the owner or author of the creative work. By accepting the same the copyright society have the authority to issue licenses and further collect the Mechanical license fee etc. also, the owner of the rights can withdraw the search authorization by not going against the copyright society on the basis of any contract. Apart from these, there are other powers given to society.

Further, the section also states that the copyright society is vested with certain powers like:

The copyright society can issue the license to the owner of the creative work

As per section 34 of the copyright act 1957, the copyright society has the power to issue the license to the rightful owner of the creative work as per section 30 (which states that in case of the death of the rightful owner of the creative work, the legal representatives of the owner gets the license of the work). Once the content of the work is unobjectionable in the eyes of law and the copyright society, then they can issue the license to the owner of the creative work without any objections.

They can collect the fees for the same

The copyright society has also the authority to collect the fees for issuing the license. Further, the rightful owner is obliged to pay the fees to the society without fail. No third party is allowed to collect the fees on behalf of the copyright society. With the approval of the owner, the copyright society of India has the right to collect the license fee from the same.

Under section 35 of the copyright act, the copyright society also has the right to inform the author about the entire procedure and approval for collecting fees.

Section 35 of the Copyright act gives the power to the copyright society for informing the author about the entire process and give them full-fledged information about the same. Further, for collecting the license fees, the copyright society has to get the approval of the author for the same. Also, the utilization of the number of fees collected by the society is to be followed.

The copyright society has the power to frame a scheme to define the remuneration of copyright owners under section 34(2) of the act.

The copyright society of any country has the power to frame a scheme to determine the remuneration of the copyright owners as per section 34(2) of the copyright act of 1957. Section 34(2) of the copyright, act states that the copyright society has the right to enter into an agreement with any foreign society or organization without any discrimination in terms of license or distribution of fees and others with the Indian societies.

Know about: Copyright Application

Amendment of 2012

The copyright act has been amended many times. However, the most important amendment is that of 2012. Because this amendment created conformity of international standards that are established by the WIPO copyright treaty. Apart from these, the amendment is important for the copyright societies. Because with this amendment, the authors were given more importance, unlike the previous amendments where the author was not given much importance.

The inclusion of the authors in the copyright society ensured that the copyright society’s governing body consists of an equal number of authors and owners with no discrimination. Further, the amendment consists of provisions for the Tarif schemes, and the provisions for the payment of remuneration by the society.

Conclusion – Powers of Copyright Society

Overall, we can conclude that the powers of copyright society of India and in general is one of the most important organizations that helps in protecting the rights and interests of the owners and authors of the respective works. With the guidance of the government of India, the copyright society is vested with important powers that are made by keeping in mind the interests and benefits of the owners and authors. They can issue the license, collect fees for the same, consult the owner or author for approval of the collection of the fees, and most importantly, create schemes for remuneration of the Copyright literary work. Finally, include the authors and ensure that there is an equal number of owners and authors as per the amendment of 2012.

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