Copyright Registration Online India

How to Do Copyright Registration Online with Vakilsearch

You can register a copyright online through Vakilsearch. While we make copyright registration a simple 3-step process for you, the actual registration process is elaborate and is explained below for your knowledge:

Step 1: Details and document collection

Based on the type of work, we will pick the right copyright application for you. We will collect all the necessary information and documents that will be required for the process. The authorisation letter will be sent to you to be signed.

Step 2: Filling and filing copyright application

Once all the details have been collected and verified by us, our experts will prepare the copyright application and submit the necessary forms with the Registrar electronically.

Step 3: Dairy number and copyright examination

You will get a diary number once the application is submitted. Using this, you can track your application.

There is a waiting period of 30 days within which the Copyright Examiner reviews the application for potential discrepancies and/or objections. If there is a discrepancy, a notice will be issued and the same needs to be responded to within 30 days from the date of issuance of the notice.

Step 4: Copyright registration

Once the discrepancy has been removed or there are no discrepancies or objections with the application, the copyright shall be registered. The Copyright Office shall issue the Extracts from the Register of Copyrights (ROC)/registration certificate.

Registration of copyright might take up to 12 months from the date of issuance of the diary number. Our team will keep you informed of the changes in the status of your application throughout that time. If there are some clarifications and/or some defects in the application on your account that have to be addressed, we will do it for you at an additional cost.

In case of an objection to your application, from interested parties, or the examiner, you would need to file a response within 45 days.

Copyright Registration Online – an Overview

Copyright is the legal right creators are entitled to for their literary, dramatics, music, and artistic work. Producers of films and recordings enjoy this right too. When a proprietor registers for a copyright, it gives them an exclusive right to reproduce, replicate, and distribute the work. Further, they can grant authority to some other entity for the same purpose.

Registering for copyright is important because it makes you the legal owner of the rights over the work. You then have control over communicating it to the public, reproducing rights, any adaptations or translations of the works.

How Copyrighting Works

A copyright protects the expression of an idea. Unlike a patent, which protects the idea itself, copyright protects only the expression.

As the owner of the copyright, the author has the unique right to produce copies of the work, to exhibit and perform it publicly, and to distribute copies of the work to the public. These exclusive rights are valid for the author's lifetime plus 70 years. A work made for hire, on the other hand, has a copyright that lasts for a fixed period of 95 years from the date of creation.

The work must be original to the creator in order to be protected by copyright. To be unique, the work should:

• Instead of being taken from another work, it must have been created by the author(s)
• Must be capable of at least a basic level of creativity.

Note: The work will be terminated and will not be entitled to copyright protection if these two conditions are not met.

Copyright Law and Treaties

The Copyright Act 1957 (the Act), supported by the Copyright Rules 1958 (the Rules), is the governing law for copyright protection in India. Substantial amendments carries out to the Copyright Act in 2012. India follows a common law legal system, so relies on case law to interpret and set precedents in law and so the judicial decisions contribute to the sources of copyright law in India. India is a member of the Berne Conventions and Universal Copyright Convention. The Government of India has also passed the International Copyright Order, 1999. According to this Order, any work first published in any country that is a member of any of the above conventions is granted the same treatment as if it was first published in India.

The copyright law aims to balance the interests of those who create content, with the public interest in having the widest possible access to that content. WIPO administers several international treaties in the area of copyright and related rights.

What Can Be Protected By Copyright?

Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.

Eight categories of works are copyrightable:

• Literary, musical and dramatic works
• Pantomimes and choreographic works
• Pictorial, graphic and sculptural works
• Sound recordings
• Motion pictures and other AV works
• Computer programs
• Compilations of works and derivative works
• Architectural works.

Benefits of Copyright Registration

A public record of ownership

When a work is copyrighted, it is registered on a public record, thereby establishing ownership.

Copyright infringement

In the case of copyright infringement, the authors can sue infringers to secure their work and claim statutory compensation.

Prevents importing of duplicates

The owners can record the registration with the Indian customs and prevent importing duplicate copies of the work.

Commercial use of by-products

Have control over by-products or derivatives created from the original registered work for commercial purposes.

Transfer of copyright

The rights can be passed or sold to a third party by the original copyright holder.

Ensures protection

Copyright protection enables the owners to exhibit their work without the fear that it will be replicated without authorisation.

Scope of Copyright Protection

The Copyright Act of 1957 prevents the unauthorized use of any original literary, musical, dramatic, audio, cinematographic, and other artistic work. Both published and unpublished works can be copyrighted, and the original work’s copyright is reserved for the original creator. Copyright can also be registered for works that were published before 21 January 1958, that is before the Copyright Act came into existence.

Copyright protection of original literary, musical, dramatic, and artistic works lasts for the entire lifetime of the author and another 60 years from the year following the death of the author. For cinematograph films, sound recordings, photographs, posthumous publications, anonymous and pseudonymous publications, works of government, and works of international organizations, the 60 years is counted from the date of publication.

Rights of a Copyright Owner

A copyright owner gets to enjoy the following rights and only they can assign these rights to someone else:

• Right of reproduction: no one can make copies of or reproduce a protected work, in part or whole, without permission from the copyright owner
• Right of adaptation: exclusive rights to the creator to use their piece of work the way they want (e.g., a book into a movie)
• Right of communication to the public: exclusive rights to broadcast their original work to the public
• Right to public performance: exclusive rights to the owners of artistic and musical work to perform their works in public
• Right of paternity/attribution: the right of attribution or paternity implies that the owner/creator can claim sole authorship over their piece of work. In other words, they can have it attributed to themselves
• Right of integrity: it allows the owner to sue in case their work is distorted or modified without permission
• Right of distribution: exclusive rights to distribute their work in whatever form they like (through selling, reproducing, leasing, lending, renting, or transferring).

Documents Required to Register Copyright

To register for copyright you need to give us the following details and documents.

Personal details:

• Name, address, and nationality of the applicant
• Name, address, and nationality of the author of the work
• Nature of the applicant’s interest in the copyright - whether the applicant is the author of the work or the representative of the author
• Copies of the original work
• ID proof of the owner and incorporation certificate if it is for business

Nature of the work:

• Class & description of the work
• Title of the work
• Language of the work
• Date of publication - publication in internal magazines, like a company magazine or a research paper submitted to a professor does not count as publication.

Documents:

• Three copies of your work
• Authorisation letter (we will send you)

Why Vakilsearch?

• Our IP experts will guide you from end to end of this process
• All the forms and the application will be filled out by experts and submitted on your behalf so that you don’t have to bear the pain yourself
• The entire process is online and you can upload all the details and documents to a user-friendly dashboard
• Your work and data are safe and secure with us
• Our support team is available to answer any questions you might have.

FAQs on Copyright Registration Online India