Copyright: Definitions & Registration Procedure

Meaning of Copyright

Copyright can be defined as a person’s exclusive right to reproduce, publish or sell his original work of authorship i.e. literature, musical, dramatic, artistic or architectural work.  Copyright prohibits anyone from creating similar work.

Copyright is available only for an original form of work of authorship that is in tangible form whether published or unpublished.

Copyright provides following benefit to the owner:

• Protect his work.
• Reproduce the work.
• Prepare other works on the basis of original work.
• Perform the work publicly.
• Display the work publicly.

Who is eligible for copyright registration ?

Following persons can register copyright:

• Creator of the work.
• Any person who is claiming to have obtained ownership from the creator of the work.
• A person who has been authorized by the creator i.e. either the agent or the legal representative.

There is no age bar on obtaining a copyright. A minor can register too.

What are the steps of copyright registration?

1. Filing of the application: For filing the copyright registration an application should be submitted along with the requisite fee. After the application has been filed a diary number is being generated. This number can be used for tracking the status of the application.
2. Examination: After filing of an application, a minimum period of 30 days is required for analyzing the application. Within such period any third party can also raise any objection.
   If no objection is raised by the third party then the examiner shall scrutinize the application and will conclude with the 2 objective i.e.
• The discrepancy is found while scrutiny.
• No discrepancy is found while scrutiny.
• The discrepancy is found while scrutiny of the application: The examiner shall send a notice to the applicant regarding the discrepancy observed, the applicant shall reply to such notice on the basis of that further proceeding would be conducted.
• No Discrepancy is found while scrutiny of the application: If while scrutinizing the application the examiner observes there is no discrepancy and the field application fulfills all the criteria of registration the examiner shall proceed the application for registration.
In case of objection is raised by the third party, then the examiner shall do the following:
• Accept the application or;
• Reject the application.
• If the application is accepted: if the examiner accepts the application it simply means that he has rejected the objection.
• If the application is rejected: If on receiving the objection from the third party the examiner rejects the application then the procedure for registration ends there itself and no further course of action could be taken. The rejection of the application totally dismisses the case.
3. Registration: The copyright registration totally depends upon the will of the Registrar. Once the Registrar accepts the application he will grant the registration certificate, after that owner can exercise all the rights of the copyright.