Owing to the notable rise in awareness about intellectual property laws and technological advancements among people, there is a gush in the quantity of intellectual property being registered with every passing day in India. These days, a considerable number of individuals are getting different types of intellectual property registered online with the utmost ease. One of the many crucial types of intellectual property protection is copyright registration. It allows for the ultimate safeguarding of dramatic, musical, artistic, and literary works.
Copyright Registration – An Overview
Aside from the owners of production houses of films and sound recordings, the law ensures the exclusive right to ownership and enjoyment to ingenious creators of dramatic, artistic, literary, and musical works. The legal right is known as copyright. It is only after registering and completing the requisite procedure, a proprietor or creator gets the sole right to replicate, reproduce, or permit another entity to use or distribute the work.
Registering for copyright can facilitate a creator or producer of any kind of artistic or intellectual creations to better communicate to the audience, reproduce exclusive rights, and execute adaptation and translation of all original works. The makers/creators/authors somewhere feel that their creations are protected and well-rewarded only when a specific artistic or intellectual work is copyright protected.
Minimum Requirements
Any form of intellectual or artistic works that include books, poems, prose, novels, movies, music, paintings, photographs, music videos, TV commercials, audiobooks, podcasts, television soaps, stage, etc. can be copyrighted. Under the Copyright Act, each of the three artistic or intellectual work classes has its own exclusive rights.
Copyright Registration In India
The very moment an artistic or intellectual work is created, a limited amount of copyright protection comes into play. There isn’t any requirement of completing any formality to acquire copyright. However, you should keep in mind that to prove ownership over all copyright-protected works and act as chief evidence in the court of law, registering artistic or intellectual creations in the Register of Copyright Office of the Department of Education is imperative.
You have to file an application for copyright registration on Form IV as per instructions along with the requisite fee. A maker/creator or producer/proprietor can copyright both published and unpublished works. Remember that when it comes to applying for copyright registration for published work, presenting three copies of the same along with the application. In case of creations that aren’t published yet, an author or publisher needs to send a copy of the original manuscript along with the application form to affix the Copyright Office’s stamp, which will indicate that the unpublished work is registered.
All intellectual and artistic works that are copyright protected will last for a period of 60 years. When it comes to ingenious dramatic, musical, literary, and artistic creations, the year following the death of the creator or author marks the beginning of the 60 year period. The date of publication or release marks the commencement of the 60 year period in the case of audio-visual films, sound recordings, anonymous and pseudonymous publications, photographs, etc.
Copyright Registration Procedure
A proprietor can acquire copyright protection for both published and unpublished intellectual or artistic works. To obtain copyright protection, a creator or producer needs to apply to the Copyright Office for getting their original literary, dramatic, cultural, or musical works registered under copyright laws in the requisite application form along with the required amount of fee.
While filing a copyright registration application, remember that it is required to be made on Form IV, aside from the Statement of Particulars and Statement of Further Particulars. While submitting the application form, a creator or owner of a particular artistic or intellectual creation needs to present at least three copies of published works. In case of an unpublished work, one needs to send a copy of the actual manuscript aside from the application to affix the stamp of the Copyright Office, which will prove that the works are copyright protected.
Sometimes, many proprietors send two copies of the original manuscript instead of one by mistake. In that case, the Copyright Office returns one duly stamped copy and retain the other for the record. Note that the Copyright Office ensures that the retained copy of the manuscript remains confidential. One needs to file separate applications for registering multiple artistic or intellectual works. The requisite application fee has to be paid as many times as a creator or producer files a new application for getting new work registered.
Prime Benefits of Copyright Registration
Indeed, the advantages of copyright registration are many. Read on to acquire comprehensive knowledge of the essential benefits of getting your ingenious artistic or intellectual work registered and obtaining copyright protection.
