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CHAPTER IV
OWNERSHIP OF
COPYRIGHT AND RIGHTS OF THE OWNER
17. First owner of copyright.— Subject to the provisions of this Act, the author of a work shall
be the first owner of the copyright therein:
Provided that—
(a) in the case of a literary, dramatic or artistic work made by the
author in the course of his employment by the proprietor of a newspaper,
magazine or similar periodical under a contract of service or apprenticeship,
for the purpose of publication in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical,
the said proprietor shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be
the first owner of the copyright in the work in so far as the copyright relates
to the publication of the work in any newspaper, magazine or similar
periodical, or to the reproduction of the work for the purpose of its being so
published, but in all other respects the author shall be the first owner of the
copyright in the work;
(b) subject to
the provisions of clause (a), in the case of a photograph taken, or a painting
or portrait drawn, or an engraving or a cinematograph film made, for valuable
consideration at the instance of any person, such person shall, in the absence
of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein;
(c) in the case
of a work made in the course of the author’s employment under a contract of
service or apprenticeship, to which clause (a) or clause
(b) does not apply,
the employer shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the
first owner of the copyright therein;
(cc)
in the case of any address or speech delivered in public, the person who
has delivered such address or speech or if such person has delivered such
address or speech on behalf of any other person, such other person shall be the
first owner of the copyright therein notwithstanding that the person who
delivers such address or speech, or, as the case may be, the person on whose
behalf such address or speech is delivered, is employed by any other person who
arranges such address or speech or on whose behalf or premises such address or
speech is delivered;
(d) in the case of a Government work, Government shall,
in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the
copyright therein;
(dd) in the
case of a work made or first published by or under the direction or control of
any public undertaking, such public undertaking shall, in the absence of any
agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein.
Explanation.— For the purposes of this clause and section 28A, “public
undertaking” means—
(i) an undertaking owned or
controlled by Government; or
(ii) a Government company as defined in section 617 of the Companies
Act, 1956 (1 of 1956);or
(iii) a body corporate
established by or under any Central, Provincial or State Act;
(e) in the case of a work to which the provisions of
section 41 apply, the international organization concerned shall be the first
owner of the copyright therein.
Provided that in
case of any work incorporated in a cinematograph work, nothing contained in
clauses (b) and (c) shall affect the right of the author in the work referred
to in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 13.
18. Assignment of
copyright.— (1) The owner of the copyright in an
existing work or the prospective owner of the copyright in a future work may
assign to any person the copyright either wholly or partially and either
generally or subject to limitations and either for the whole term of the
copyright or any part thereof:
Provided that in the case of the assignment of copyright in any
future work, the assignment shall take effect only when the work comes into
existence.
Provided further that no such assignment shall be applied to any
medium or mode of exploitation of the work which did not exist or was not in
commercial use at the time when the assignment was made, unless the assignment
specifically referred to such medium or mode of exploitation of the work:
Provided also that the author of the literary or musical work
included in a cinematograph film shall not assign or waive the right to receive
royalties to be shared on an equal basis with the assignee of copyright for the
utilization of such work in any form other than for the communication to the
public of the work along with the cinematograph film in a cinema hall, except
to the legal heirs of the authors or to a copyright society for collection and
distribution and any agreement to contrary shall be void:
Provided also that the author of the literary or musical work
included in the sound recording but not forming part of any cinematograph film
shall not assign or waive the right to receive royalties to be shared on an
equal basis with the assignee of copyright for any utilization of such work
except to the legal heirs of the authors or to a collecting society for
collection and distribution and any assignment to the contrary shall be void.
(2) Where the assignee of a copyright becomes entitled to any right
comprised in the copyright, the assignee as respects the rights so assigned,
and the assignor as respects the rights not assigned, shall be treated for the
purposes of this Act as the owner of copyright and the provisions of this Act
shall have effect accordingly.
(3) In this section, the expression “assignee” as respects the
assignment of the copyright in any future work includes the legal
representatives of the assignee, if the assignee dies before the work comes
into existence.
19. Mode of assignment.— (1) No assignment of the copyright in any work shall be valid
unless it is in writing signed by the assignor or by his duly authorised agent.
(2) The assignment of copyright in any work shall identify such
work, and shall specify the rights assigned and the duration and territorial
extent of such assignment.
(3) The assignment of copyright in any work shall also specify the
amount of royalty and any other consideration payable, to the author or his
legal heirs during the currency of the assignment and the assignment shall be
subject to revision, extension or termination on terms mutually agreed upon by
the parties.
(4) Where the assignee does not exercise the rights assigned to him
under any of the other sub-sections of this section within a period of one year
from the date of assignment, the assignment in respect of such rights shall be
deemed to have lapsed after the expiry of the said period unless otherwise
specified in the assignment.
(5) If the period of assignment is not stated, it shall be deemed to
be five years from the date of assignment.
(6) If the territorial extent of assignment of the rights is not
specified, it shall be presumed to extend within India.
(7) Nothing in sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) or sub-section (4)
or sub-section (5) or sub-section (6) shall be applicable to assignments made
before the coming into force of the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1994 (38 of
1994).
(8) The assignment of copyright in any work contrary to the terms
and conditions of the rights already assigned to a copyright society in which
the author of the work is a member shall be void.
(9) No assignment of
copyright in any work to make a cinematograph film shall affect the right of
the author of the work to claim an equal share of royalties and consideration
payable in case of utilisation of the work in any form other than for the
communication to the public of the work, along with the cinematograph film in a
cinema hall.
(10) No assignment of the
copyright in any work to make a sound recording which does not form part of any
cinematograph film shall affect the right of the author of the work to claim an
equal share of royalties and consideration payable for any utilization of such
work in any form.
19A. Disputes with respect
to assignment of copyright.— (1) If an assignee
fails to make sufficient exercise of the rights assigned to him, and such
failure is not attributable to any act or omission of the assignor, then, the
1[Commercial Court] may, on receipt of a complaint from the assignor and after
holding such inquiry as it may deem necessary, revoke such assignment.
(2) If any dispute arises with respect to the assignment of any
copyright, the 2[Commercial Court] may, on receipt of a complaint from the
aggrieved party and after holding such inquiry as it considers necessary, pass
such order as it may deem fit including an order for the recovery of any
royalty payable:
Provided that the 3[Commercial Court] shall not pass any order under
this sub-section to revoke the assignment unless it is satisfied that the terms
of assignment are harsh to the assignor in case the assignor is also the
author:
Provided further that, pending the disposal of an application for
revocation of assignment under this sub-section, the 4[Commercial Court] may pass
such order, as it deems fit regarding implementation of the terms and
conditions of assignment including any consideration to be paid for the
enjoyment of the rights assigned:
Provided also that no order of revocation of assignment under this
sub-section, shall be made within a period of five years from the date of such
assignment.
(3) Every complaint received
under sub-section (2) shall be dealt with by the 5[Commercial Court] as far as
possible and efforts shall be made to pass the final order in the matter within
a period of six months from the date of receipt of the complaint and any delay
in compliance of the same, the 6[Commercial Court] shall record the reasons
thereof.
20. Transmission of copyright in
manuscript by testamentary disposition.— Where under a bequest a person is
entitled to the manuscript of a literary, dramatic or musical work, or to an
artistic work, and the work was not published before the death of the testator,
the bequest shall, unless the contrary intention is indicated in the testator’s
Will or any codicil thereto, be construed as including the copyright in the
work in so far as the testator was the owner of the copyright immediately
before his death.
Explanation.— In this section, the expression “manuscript” means the
original document embodying the work, whether written by hand or not.
21. Right of author to
relinquish copyright.— (1) The author of a work may
relinquish all or any of the rights comprised in the copyright in the work by
giving notice in the prescribed form to the Registrar of Copyrights or by way
of public notice and thereupon such rights shall, subject to the provisions of
sub-section (3), cease to exist from the date of the notice.
(2) On receipt of a notice under sub-section (1), the Registrar of
Copyrights shall cause it to be published in the Official Gazette and in such
other manner as he may deem fit.
(2A) The Registrar of
Copyright shall, within fourteen days from the publication of the notice in the
Official Gazette, post the notice on the official website of the Copyright
Office so as to remain in the public domain for a period of not less than three
years.
(3) The relinquishment of all or any of the rights
comprised in the copyright in a work shall not affect any rights subsisting in
favour of any person on the date of the notice referred to in sub-section (1).
1Subs. by ordinance No. 2 of 2021, for “Appellate Board” (w.e.f. 04-04-2021).
2Subs. by ordinance No. 2 of 2021, for “Appellate Board” (w.e.f. 04-04-2021).
3Subs. by ordinance No. 2 of 2021, for “Appellate Board” (w.e.f. 04-04-2021).
4Subs. by ordinance No. 2 of 2021, for “Appellate Board” (w.e.f. 04-04-2021).
5Subs. by ordinance No. 2 of 2021, for “Appellate Board” (w.e.f. 04-04-2021).
6Subs. by ordinance No. 2 of 2021, for “Appellate Board” (w.e.f. 04-04-2021).
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