Copyright is one of the intellectual property rights under which the law gives package of rights to the creators of literary, artistic, dramatic, musical works, producers of cinematographic, software, and sound recordings. The purpose of granting right under the provisions of the Copyrights Act, 1957 is to use, reproduce, or communicate the works to the public at large, for translating, utilizing, and making adaptation. Copyright registration online is an intellectual property giving protection to the creator of the author for expression of ideas.
A copyright is basically a right given to the author to ensure that nobody else copies his work. A copyright gives the holder of the subject a sole and exclusive right over his work. If the copyright work is protected, no one can replicate, copy, imitate or reproduce the owner’s original work in any other manner. A copyright term in India is for a time period of 60 years. Copyright is granted for the following works:
In order to get the protection under Copyright the owner of the work must get his work registered in accordance with the Act to avail various benefits. In India, it is not mandatory to register Copyright as the registration is treated only as a record of the fact. The registration of ownership shall be considered “proof of ownership”
Steps for Copyright registration in India
To obtain the copyright registration the following steps has to be followed:
An application for registration of Copyright shall include all the particulars and statements that the owner of the work shall file in the format of Form IV.
The application shall be filed before the Registrar of Copyrights with the required fees as applicable to the office of Registrar at New Delhi, India. Registration of Copyright for separate works requires separate applications.
After the application is filed, the Registrar of Copyrights checks and examines the and after 30 days from the date of filing either registers it or if any discrepancy is found then a letter is issued to the Applicant to resolve the discrepancy within the prescribed time of 30 days. If the applicant fails to reply to the letter or fails in resolving the discrepancy, then the application shall be deemed to be abandoned.
On the other hand, if the Registrar of Copyrights to his satisfaction finds the reply reasonably correct, then the applied work details shall be entered in the Register of Copyrights.
The Registrar of copyrights shall issue the Registration Certificate to the applicant, also known as the Extract of such Register of Copyright.
Generally, the given below documents and the details are requisite for filing of copyright registration application:-
The benefits of copyright registration in India are as follows:
The registration under Copyright serves as an evidence for proving the ownership that the particular work belongs to the author which gives him the legal protection. Sec 48 of the Copyright Act, 1957 gives a prima facie validity to the registration certified by the Registrar.
The registration of Copyright and the certificate provided gives the authentication to the work also making way for marketing the author’s work and creating goodwill and a brand by the quality in the mind of the customers.
The registration of Copyright provides legal remedies to the author and he can claim against copyright infringement, use or reproduction of his work in an unauthorized manner and without his permission.
If the owner obtains the registration of Copyright in other countries then the owner can claim the same privileges as the owner has in India.
The copyright work can later get translated or adapted and the owner gets entitled to claim royalty or remuneration over such adaptation and editing of his work.
The registration of Copyright offers several benefits and the owner’s work is secured and protected from getting infringed. Copyright certificate gives the right to the owner of the work to claim against any unauthorized use of his work. Hence, it is highly recommended that the owner must get the Copyright registered.
