All you want to know about Registration of Copyright

Copyright has been referred to as the creation of a statute under the private property of law that has its subsistence in the various types of works.  The law governing the regime of copyright in India is the Copyright Act of 1957. The laws extend their protection to the expressed ideas of the creativity of the author by providing recognition to the rights of exclusivity in terms of creation and enforcing such rights through effective mechanisms. The compliance with the basic principles of originality, durability, and authenticity would only provide protection of copyright to the works in terms of literary, artistic, musical, dramatic, cinematographic and sound recordings and even computer software. Hence, this protection can only be granted if the works created and produced by the people are registered in the official directory of the copyright office.  However, the registration of copyright is not mandatory, but it is advisable to get your works protected as this would grant rights to the author or to the real owner of the copyright namely rights of reproduction, licensing right, moral rights, and economic rights. The other additional rights such as filing for copyright infringement and claiming of damages both in the civil and criminal ratios as so claimed by the plaintiff. The registration for copyright can be both in the forms of the online procedure as well as the physical modes. Registration of work under the Copyright Act merely raises a prima facie presumption with respect to the particulars entered in the Register of copyright. However, the presumption is not conclusive.

Procedure to be followed for copyright registration

Section 44 of the Copyright Act of 1957 read in compliance with Chapter VI of the Copyright rules, 1956 briefly states about registration of copyright. The procedure that must be followed for the registration of copyright is:

• Firstly, the author of the work or the owner of the work has to file an application either physically in the copyright’s office or through e-filing available on the site of www.copyright.gov.in., and
• The form IV which lists the statement of particulars with a sample of any kind of works and a general Power of Attorney must be attached alongside in the copyright application.
• The different types of works require separate applications to be filed, that are accompanied with the particulars of the work, requisite fee, etc.
• The registrar will then be issuing a diary number and thirty days period is given in case the work receives any objections.
• In case, there are no objections raised on the copyrighted work, then the application would be checked for discrepancies, and if there are no discrepancies then the registration would be granted.
• Further, the application would then be sent to the registrar for the entry of the work in the register of the copyright.
• In case there are discrepancies, and an objection is raised on the copyrighted work, then the examiner would be sending a letter of hearing to the parties.
• After the hearing, if the disputes related to copyright are resolved then the application would be approved, otherwise would be rejected.

The registration of copyright requires an able guidance from an efficient copyright lawyer, who would guide the Applicant in the further filing procedures of the copyright and would also keep a check on the other legal necessities which have to be fulfilled on a timely basis, such as that of replying to a discrepancy letter, filing of any suit and petition related to copyright infringement and others.

If you have any queries related to copyright, and want to get your works registered, kindly contact us through our website: www.biswajitsarkar.com