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Copyright

Copyright

What is Copyright ?

Copyright is a bunch of legal rights including rights of reproduction, communication to the public, adaptation and translation of the work for any Literary work, Dramatic work, Musical work, Artistic work, Cinematographic work and Sound recordings.


Who can apply ?

An Applicant who is an author or creator of the work can apply for copyright. However, a legalized owner or assignee or legal heir can also apply for a copyright.


Where to apply ?

An application for registration needs to be filed with The Registrar, Copyright office located at New Delhi who grants the copyright.


How to apply ?

An application of copyright original copies of work in triplicate need to be submitted to The Registrar, Copyright office. A duly executed power of attorney is essential if the application is being made through a legal representative, such as an Advocate. An application can also be filed through e-filing portal provided on official website of the copyright office.


Procedure from filing till registration

After filing the application and making of necessary payment, an applicant receives a dairy number from the Copyright office. The diary number contains application number and filing date. The copyright application waits for a third party objection for a mandatory period of one month. In case if any third party objection is received, then the Registrar informs both the parties and demands for reply. After receipt of reply from both parties, the Registrar conducts a hearing to conclude acceptance or rejection of the application accordingly. In case if no third party objection is received, then the registrar sends the application to Examiner who scrutinizes the contents of applications and accepts the application if no discrepancy is found. Else, the Examiner sends a discrepancy letter to Applicant and demands for a reply in stipulated time period. Examiner may demand for a hearing in case if the reply received from Applicant is not conclusive. After hearing, Examiner either rejects or grants the copyright registration. In case of rejection, Examiner sends a rejection letter to Applicant. In case of acceptance, Examiner sends extracts from register of copyrights to the Applicant.


Time period required for registration

Generally a time period of 15 to 18 months is required from filing till registration of the Copyright Office from the date of filing of the application for copyrights.


Term of copyright

The term of copyrights protection for natural person is Sixty Years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies. This is in respect of ORIGINAL LITERARY, DRAMATIC, MUSICAL AND ARTISTIC works. For CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS, SOUND RECORDINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, POSTHUMOUS PUBLICATIONS, ANONYMOUS AND PSEUDONYMOUS PUBLICATIONS, WORKS OF GOVERNMENT AND WORKS OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, the term is 60- year from the date of publication. The term of copyrights protection for legal applicant is Sixty years from date of application.