Introduction
The Berne Convention[1] for the protection of artistic and literary works was firstly accepted in 1886 in Berne, Switzerland. It ensures protection of works and their author’s rights. It provides the creators with the means to control how their works is been used and is used by whom and for what purpose as no one just wake up someday and decide to copy someone’s work and present it as his own and may also earn from it , the protection was and is needed .The basic principles of the convention are:-
- National Treatment- This means that any work originating in one of the state bound by the convention must be given equal protection in all the other states bound by the convention as they would have given to the works of their own nationals. i.e. all the protection is to be given to the work as they provide to their own or local work i.e. irrespective of place of origin.
- Automatic protection- This means that the protection given must be unconditional upon the compliance with any formality.
- Independence of Protection- The protection is independent of any existing protection of the country where the work has originated.
Duration of protection- Generally
the protection is given until the completion of 50 years of death of the author
i.e owner of the work. In case the work is anonymous , the protection expires
after 50 years from when the work was made available to the public. Protection
of minimum term of 25 years from the creation is given in applied art and
photographic works. These are stated in Article 7 [2]of the
Convention.
After its finishing in 1886, the
Convention was revised in Paris in 1896 and then at Berlin in 1908, completed
at Berne in 1914, revised at Rome in 1928, at Brussels in 1948, at Stockholm in
1967 and at Paris in 1971, and was amended in 1979. India has been the Member of
the Berne Convention since 28th April, 1928[3] and has
been submitting it’s declaration as per article II and III of appendix from
time to time. The Berne Union consists of an Assembly and an Executive
Committee. Each country that is a member of the Union and has adhered to at
least the administrative and final provisions of the Stockholm Act is a member
of the Assembly. The executive committee members are elected from among the members of the
Union, except for Switzerland, which is a member ex officio. Any country
can denounce the act only after 5 years from the date it joined by sending
notification addressed to the director general of the World Intellectual
Property Organization and shall only affect the country making it only, the
convention thus remaining in full force and effect as regards the other
participants of the union . After one year of the date of receiving of the
notification by the director general, the denunciation takes place. Before the
Berne Convention, copyright legislation remained uncoordinated at the
international level. So for example a work published in India by an Indian
national would have been covered by
copyright there but could have been copied and sold by anyone in England. The copyright
protection standard promoted by the Berne convention though are somewhat
problematic for countries that are still developing or are in the phase of
development as these countries are in a need to spread the work for purposes
like of research, teaching and scholarship etc. as in the making of this
convention, the needs of developing countries were maybe not addressed
properly.
Copyright Laws in India
All the dramatic, artistic and
literary works etc. are protected under the copyright laws in India .It
protects against the use of work by someone other than the author unauthorised
by ways of publishing, reproducing or adapting it etc. These are a bundle of rights which can show
some variation depending upon the nature of work or its ownership and
licensing. As soon as any work is created, copyright comes into force i.e the
protection for work is kind of automatic and no formality is thus required to
gain the protection. However , in India , it is advised to apply for
registration of copyright for its evidentiary value. Copyright laws came into
existence in the legislation of 1914 which was inspired or modelled after the
United Kingdom’s Copyright Act,1911. Since then the copyright laws have
developed and adapted overtime in accordance with the convention and treaties
in this field like the Berne Convention. Currently in the field of copyright,
the function are being governed according to the Copyright Act, 1957, which was
further amended and improvised in the year 1983, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1999 and
2012 along with the copyright rules of 2013 with the copyright amendment act of
2012 being a big amendment as it made some essential changes for more seamless
use or working of the Copyright laws in India . The best example of copyright
in today’s modern world can be seen at the platform named YouTube , where
original creators can give copyright strike to one’s copying or using their
work without permission and the copied work is removed and much more is done
which I think is quite relatable to understand copyright in this digital world. In case of infringement
of copyright in India ,the minimum punishment given is a fine of Rs. 50000
minimum and an imprisonment of six months and in subsequent conviction ,
imprisonment of 1 year and a fine of Rs. 1 lakh. There is no copyright on an
idea. Also in India, the duration of validity or protection of copyright
differs a bit from that in the Berne convention . In India the duration of
protection in general is given for 60 years . For literary , artistic and
musical work, the protection given is 60 years from the death of the author of
the work is published and in case if the work is not published , performed
within the lifetime of its author , the protection given is of 60 years from
the end of the year the work has first published after the death of the
author and for works of unknown author ,
cinematography , photography or works of government , the protection of 60
years start from date of publication. In order to protect the interest of the
users , some exemptions have been prescribed in respect of use of work
specifically without the permission of copyright owner like using the work for
the purpose of private study or research work , for review or criticism ,for
reporting current events , in connection with judicial proceedings or any
performance in club or society to the non paying audience i.e. free etc. are times where work can be used without
permission of the author. To claim a copyright it is not essential to register
a work, but to be on a safer side in a copyright dispute in a court of law ,
certificate of registration of copyright can prove to be important evidence and
can prove your authorship or that the work is yours.
Conclusion
The copyright laws in India are
highly influenced by the Berne convention . It can be directly seen as it
decided to follow and become a member of this convention in 1928 itself . As a
developing nation the convention gave a new direction and support in the field
of protection of works of people. The copyright laws in India itself are a mixture of laws worldwide and that of
Berne convention also with some modifications of our own. Though India itself
as a developing country faced some problems with the convention also but it
cannot be denied that the convention helped author’s not only of India but of
other Berne members too.Evolution of copyright[4] laws in
India can be said to have gone through 3 stages. When the British East India
Company was established in the year 1847, the concept of copyright laws was
introduced in India , It had very different provisions compared to today’s
scenario . The term or duration of copyright at that time was 7 years after the
death of the author and his complete lifetime and the total term of copyright
could not extend forty two years in any condition. In case after the author
died and the owner of copyright refuses to allow the work for publication , a
compulsory license to publish the book could be granted by the government. In
this phase of evolution of copyright laws , to enjoy the rights under the act,
it was mandatory to do the registration of copyright at the home office. Second
phase can be said to come in 1914 when the copyright act of 1914 came into
force under the British rule by Indian legislature. The act of 1914 was almost
very similar to the act of United Kingdom i.e. United Kingdom copyright act,
1911. Criminal sanction for infringement was one of the major changes brought
by this Act. Till 1947 many amendments were done in this act and India saw the
third phase of copyright in 1947. The
Copyright Act, 1957 was enacted in order to suit the provisions of the Berne
Convention. This Act was enacted by Independent India by which we are governed
till date.
[1] Berne Convention for the
protection of artistic and literary works Available at :
https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/summary_berne.html ( last visited May 28,2020)
[2]Articles of the
convention available at: https://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/
[3] Information source : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1534892 (last visited May
29,2020)
[4] Evolution in India
available at:https://www.bananaip.com/ip-news-center/history-of-copyright-law/
(last visited on May 30,2020)
About the Author: This Legal Article is prepared by Mr. Ashish Singhal, law student at Trinity Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi and was an intern at MyLawman. He can be reached at akamashish2001@gmail.com.
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