Under the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957, a Copyright confers certain rights to the creative works, which includes original literary and artistic works, dramatic works, cinematographic films, and musical compositions.
The authors and creators have the sole right to makes copies, broadcast, perform, alter and replicate their works for a fixed period of time. These rights are a reward to the creators, as no one will be able to use their works for free. The owner can also license the copyright to a third-party on payment of royalty or sell the right on payment of a fee.
The rights vested can only be exercised by the owner of the copyright. These rights include the right of:
The Copyright Act also provides other moral rights such as:
For instance, a cinematic film is covered by copyright protection at several levels. The producer of the film claims the rights for several aspects such as the screenplay, music of the film and the actors’ performances after paying the required fees.
Therefore, through a copyright, creators and artists are rewarded for their creativity, talents, hard work and investment, ensuring that others don’t seek unfair gains for the same.
A key differentiator of copyrights registration is not mandatory to enjoy the legal safeguards, unlike trademark registration and patent registration. Copyright comes into to force immediately when the creative work is expressed or created.
However, there are some benefits to securing a copyright registration as well. These include:
You can use the ‘Copyright. All Rights Reserved’ next to your work once you receive the registration certificate. Anyone thinking of using your work will have a fair warning that your work is registered. This helps defeat any claims of “innocent infringement”. Registration serves as a public record of ownership.
A copyright registration creates a prima facie evidence for the authenticity of your work and is concrete evidence of ownership. This creates a significant upper-edge during infringement proceeding.
If the work is registered, following which infringement takes places, then, the owner of the copyright also has the right to claim statutory damages for the infringement. Without registration on damages on profits can be claimed, and proving the same is also difficult.
A copyright registration can be filed with the India Customs Office. For instance, such a registration will help protect the export of infringing copies of books and paintings.
Registration of copyright, when done within a period of five years of the publication, will display the validity of your copyright. This can helps mitigates future challenges of infringement.
If you plan to seek monetary gain through your work, it is advisable to register your work as quickly as possible, since copyright is granted on the first-cum-first-serve basis. A registration ensures that the owner can also claim statutory damages and also serves as prima facia evidence