We generally encounter with the term “Copyright”, but do we know what is this? And what’s the purpose of copyright protection? Now let’s go with some detailed discussion. Copyright is a kind of intellectual property right that allows the owner of a work to copy or reproduce the work or grant permission to another to do so. If anyone infringed copyright, the owner is legally authorized to file a case against the culprit. It produces fruitful results for artists, performers, architects, authors, and photographers of their creative minds and talents.

There’s copyright protection law in India which may help you to protect your original creativity.

Copyright is not limited to a single work but allows protection in the following categories-

  • Literary Works – A literary copyright protects writers as novelists, non-fiction authors, and poets.
  • Musical Works
  • Dramatic Works
  • Pantomimes and Choreographic Works
  • Pictorial, Graphic, and Sculptural Works.
  • Motion Pictures and Other Audiovisual Work
  • Sound Recordings
  • Compilations

Now it’s clear about copyright, but the question arises how we can protect our work under copyright law?  The Indian Copyright Act, 1957 provides protection for your creative work. Apart from the above work copyright law protects the rights of authors

The following rights are protected:

  • Reproduce and make copies of work
  • Perform and communicate the work in public
  • Allow translation of work
  • Make any adaptation of work

Copyright Registration Process

Today, in order to obtain a copyright we need to follow certain process. The objective of the copyright registration process is to offer sole rights to the owner for his/her work where he/she can copy or reproduce the work or grant permission to others.

Let’s have a brief intro for online e-filing

  • Create an online account where you’ll get a valid username and password
  • Login with the same username or password, and click “Click for online Copyright Registration”.
  • “Copyright Registration Form” is very important and the applicant must file the same carefully, there would be four steps including – Complete the Form XIV, Fill Up the Statement of Particulars, Fill Up the Statement of Further particulars and Make the payment.
  • After successful registration, you’ll get Diary Number(for future ref.)

Now take a hard copy of “Acknowledgement Slip” and “Copyright Registration Report”, and send it by post to Copyright Division situated in Delhi.

Note:- But before doing all this you must read all instructions and checklist content regarding the filing of copyright registration.

Now, it would be better to go through the copyright registration workflow.

flow

Above given flowchart will explain you about every step involved in the process of obtaining a copyright.   After this, you’ll obtain a diary number. Now you will have to wait for 30 days for any objection which could be filed by another party, either it may be genuine or not. After hearing by the registrar or scrutinized by the examiner, as the case may be. The process moves ahead for registration approval by Dy.Registrar. If everything goes fine, you can obtain a copyright for your work.

In case you find that someone has infringed the copyright or misused your intellectual work then a professional copyright infringement lawyer can assist you to take appropriate legal action.