Infringement of Copyright under the Copyright Act, 1957

Infringement of Copyright under the Copyright Act, 1957

Executive Summary:

This article describes:

• • • This article highlights on meaning of copyright, term infringement of copyright as per the Copyright Act of 1957(Act).
    • It enumerates the consequences of infringement of copyright and throws light on relevant case law.
    • Describes the offences against other laws as per Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973(CR.P.C.).

Introduction:

If a person has the copyright to something, he is the owner of it and also has the right to decide who can copy it. In simple terms, copyright relates to the capacity to copy. Copyright refers to the legal rights given to authors and artists for their literary and artistic works. It usually includes literary works like novels, poems, plays, newspapers, databases, as well as films and artistic works like painting, drawings, and photographs. It is an intellectual property .If someone infringes on someone else’s copyrighted work, he will be made liable for both criminal and civil liabilities.

What is Copyright?

The legal right of the owner of intellectual property is referred to as copyright. In simpler words, copyright is the right to copy. The copyright holder has control over his work; he can either sell his rights to others or keep full control over his work by refusing others to copy or produce same. Section 14 of the Act defines copyright as the exclusive right to do or allow the doing of any of the following acts in relation to a work or any substantial part thereof:

• Translate the work.
• Create a cinematographic film in respect of the work.
• Perform the work in front of an audience.
• Give copies of the work to the public audience.

Examples of copyright works:

Here are a few examples of works that are protected by copyright:

• A poem
• A painting
• Software code for a website
• A sound recording
• A movie
• Lyrics to a song etc.

Copyright infringement:

When a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or converted without the consent of the copyright owner, it is called copyright infringement.
Copyright is considered infringed under Section 51 of the Act if:

• Any act which only the copyright holder is authorized to do is made without the permission of the copyright holder.
• A person permits the place to be used for communication, sale, distribution or exhibition of an infringing work unless he was not aware or had no reasonable grounds for believing that such permission will result in the violation of copyright.
• Without the permission of the copyright holder, a person reproduces his work in any manner.
• Infringing copies of a work are imported.

Infringement of copyright is an offence:

• Act says that, any person who intentionally infringes or helps in the infringement of a work’s copyright or any other right conferred by this Act except the right conferred by section 53A (Resale share right in original copies), shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 6 months but which may extend to 3 years, as well as a fine of not less than 50,000 rupees but which may extend to 2 lakh rupees.
• If the infringement was not committed for profit in the course of trade or commerce, the court may impose a sentence of imprisonment for a period of less than six months or a fine of less than fifty thousand rupees, depending on the circumstances.

Overview of Ani Technologies Private Limited Vs State of Karnataka (Karnataka High Court) case law:

In this case:

• The petitioners who own Ola cabs added a feature in their cabs where famous songs are played on a television/display set attached to the headrest of the front seat. In the taxi’s community, this feature is referred to as Ola Play, and such cabs are referred to as Ola Prime.
• After noticing, several of the contents of music videos and songs belonging to several of the films whose music copyrights the 2nd respondent owns were being displayed in Ola Prime cabs under the feature Ola play and on the basis that Ola cabs are indulging in commercial exploitation of copyright of the music whose copyright is owned by the 2nd respondent without purchasing such copyright, registered a complaint alleging infringement of the Copyright Act, 1957.
• After the registration of the said complaint with the Additional Commissioner of Police, an investigation was ordered, and a FIR was filed, alleging violations of Sections 63 and 64 of the Act.
• In this given case, a competent criminal court can sentence an offender to three years of imprisonment under Section 63 of the Act. Exact three years is a possibility in a given circumstances. As a result, it would be classified as Item No. 2 of Schedule I of the Cr.P.C.
• As a result, the argument that it is a non-cognizable offence, as well as the police procedure for lodging FIR of non-cognizable offence without the approval of the Magistrate, are both unacceptable in this case.

Conclusion:

This article enlists all important provisions of Copyright and its infringement as per law. The intention of copyright is to protect the rights of the creator. By reading this article people will able to understand that infringement of copyright is an offence and if someone infringes on another person’s copyrighted work, he will face criminal and civil liabilities.

Regards,
Legal Team

Proind Business Solutions Private Limited
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Email: info@proind.in, website: www.proind.in