Online Copyright Registration in India

Anything that is not fixed in a tangible form. Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries and unwritten speeches cannot be copyrighted.

The work has to exist as something before it can be protected.

Any original creation that exists in a tangible form, including:

1. Literary works: books, computer programs and compilations of any kind
2. Online writing, such as a blog or a series of articles
3. Musical works and sound recordings, including lyrics, and cinematograph films
4. Artistic works: paintings, sculptures, graphics, maps and architectural plans

The owner has the exclusive right to:

1. Reproduce and distribute the work, in copies or as a phonorecord, to the public by sale, transfer of ownership or licence
2. Add to the original work or modify it, and display, present or perform it in public
3. Exclude others from claiming ownership of it, or using it without permission

Sixty years, but the point it is counted from depends on the work. For literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, the 60 years run from the year following the death of the author.

For cinematograph films, sound recordings and photographs the 60 years are counted from the date of publication. For a broadcast the term is 25 years, from the beginning of the calendar year following the year it was first broadcast.

Yes. You can send a legal notice to the person concerned.

If the infringement continues after that, you can assert your exclusive right in court and claim damages.

Yes. An original creator may sell, transfer, assign or license their copyright.

You can register original authorship on a website, but a domain name cannot be protected under copyright law.

Each element counts as a separate work, photographs and videos included, so a separate application fee is payable for each of them.

A trademark protects a brand name, a logo or a slogan. Copyright protects unique content: a book, music, video, song or other artistic work.

In practice a website owner usually protects the content rather than the supporting works, because photographs and videos uploaded to a site tend to change as the business does.

The employer. Where a program is made in the course of the author’s employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship, the employer is the first owner of the copyright.

That is the default position, and it applies in the absence of any agreement to the contrary.

No. There is no mechanism to search for already-existing works on the copyright registry website.

That is one of the ways copyright differs from a trademark, where a search before filing is both possible and advisable.

Both copyright law and design law apply to jewellery.

It is generally preferable to take copyright protection on the design sketches, as artwork, because copyright runs for considerably longer than the protection design law provides.

They are charged per work. A literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work is ₹500 per work.

Where a sound recording, cinematograph film, or a literary or artistic work is used, or is capable of being used, in relation to goods under section 45, the fee is ₹2,000 per work.