Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) can be viewed as comprising of two parts – industrial property and copyright. The paper discusses issues related to copyright and fair use – the Copyright Act, what is copyright, what works does it protect, what rights does it confer upon the creators of copyrighted works, guidelines to protect the economic interests of owners of copyrighted material, what is meant by fair use and the considerations involved in deciding fair use. Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) can be viewed as comprising of two parts – industrial property and copyright. The former includes patents, trademarks, and industrial designs while the latter applies to literary, dramatic, artistic, musical and architectural works. Copyright is therefore, a subset or species of IPRs. It is a legal term describing the rights conferred upon the creators of such works. The international copyright system operates through Berne Convention and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). WIPO is a specialized agency of the United Nations, which deals with copyright, and other IPRs. Intellectual Property Rights are the legal rights that are granted to a person for any creative and artistic work, for any invention or discovery, or for any literary work or words, phrases and symbols or designs for a stipulated period of time. The owners of Intellectual Property are granted certain exclusive rights through which they use their property without any disturbance and can prevent the misuse of their property. Intellectual property is any innovation, commercial or artistic, or any unique name, symbol, logo or design used commercially. In India, Intellectual Property is governed under the Patents Act, 1970; Trademarks Act, 1999; Indian Copyright Act, 1957; Designs Act, 2001, etc. This paper deals with the issues relating to copyright Act in India. This research attempts to bring out the concept of fair use under the copyright Act,1957.
Keywords: copyright, fair use, IPRs, WIPO, rights.
Introduction:
Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) can be viewed as comprising of two parts –industrial property and copyright. The former includes patents, trademarks, and industrial designs while the latter applies to literary, dramatic, artistic, musical and architectural works. Copyright is therefore, a subset or species of IPRs. It is a legal term describing the rights conferred upon the creators of such works. (“International Protection of Intellectual Property,” n.d.)The international copyright system operates through Berne Convention and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). WIPO is a specialized agency of the United Nations, which deals with copyright, and other IPRs. (Parker 2009)The first law relating to copyright, The Statute of Anne, was passed by the parliament of Great Britain in 1710 to address the concerns of booksellers and printers. The act established the principles of authors' ownership of copyright and a fixed term of protection of copyrighted works (fourteen years, and renewable for fourteen more if the author was alive upon expiration). (Parker 2009; Seuba 2013)It further provided for copyright regulation by the government and courts rather than private parties. The Copyright Act 1911 brought provisions on copyright into one act for the first time by revising and repealing most of the earlier Acts. In India, copyright and related rights are governed by the Copyright Act, 1957 as amended in 1999 and the Copyright rules 1958 as amended in 1995 and the International Copyright Order, 1999. (French 2014)Copyright and related rights form a part of Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement 1994. The 1994 amendment to the Copyright Act provides protection to all original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematography, films and sound recordings. It has also brought sectors such as satellite broadcasting, computer software and digital technology under copyright protection. (Kamardeen 2015)The Copyright Act provides for a Copyright Board to settle disputes; Copyright Officer for registration of copyright works and for setting up of Copying Societies to do copyrights business. A Copyright Enforcement Advisory Council (CEAC) was set up on Nov. 6, 1991 to strengthen enforcement of copyright. (Bently and Sherman 2014)Often owners of copyrighted works do not have the time and means to pursue legal and administrative enforcement of copyright. Collective management organizations or societies have therefore come up in many countries. In India, Copyright Societies have been set up for different classes of works e.g. the Society for Copyright Regulations of Indian Producers of Films and Television (SCRIPT) for cinematography films, Indian Performing Rights Society Limited (IPRS) for musical works and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) for sound recordings. These societies have been quite active in anti- piracy work.
AIM OF THE STUDY:
1. To study about the concept of fair use under copyright Act,1957.
2. To analyse the issues relating to the copyright Act,1957.
MATERIALS AND METHOD:
The researcher has followed secondary data collection. This is empirical study. The researcher has also utilized commentaries, books, treaties, articles, notes, and other writings to incorporate the various view of multitude of jurists, with the intention of presentation . The researcher has made extensive use of case laws in this paper, so as this paper, so as to discern a trend in the judicial pronouncement.
SAMPLING METHOD:
Random sampling method was used for the purpose of this study.
SAMPLE SIZE:
There are total of 50 samples collected with regard to this study .
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE:
Age
Gender
Qualification
HYPOTHESIS:
NULL HYPOTHESIS
Fair use infringes the rights protected under the copyright Act, 1957
ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS
Fair use does not infringe the rights protected under the copyright Act, 1957
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION:
RIGHTS CONFERRED UPON THE CREATORS OF COPYRIGHTED WORKS:
Reproduction Rights: It refers to the right of the authors to prohibit or authorize the reproduction of their work in various forms.
Right to Create Adaptations (called derivative works) and Translation Rights: It is the right to prohibit or authorize the creation of new works based on the copyrighted work and the right to authorize or prohibit translation of the original work into the languages.
Performance and Display Rights: It refers to the right to authorize or prohibit the performance of the protected wok or its display in public.
Recording and Broadcasting Rights: It is the right of the owner of prohibit or authorize recording of the work of compact discs, cassettes, videotapes, and its broadcast by radio, cable or satellite.
Distribution Rights: It refers to the right to prohibit or authorize the sale or distribution of copies of the work.
A copyrighted work also gives the owner certain moral rights such as the right to claim authorship (or if a work is not his, to claim that he is not the author) and restrain or claim damages in case of any distortion or mutilation of the work. (Bently and Sherman 2014; Nair 2013)A copyright only protects works that are original and creative. By the former it is meant that the author creates the work in question independently even though it may lack quality or ingenuity or be similar to some other wor