REASONS FOR REJECTION OF A COPYRIGHT APPLICATION
INTRODUCTION
Copyright is a form of Intellectual Property Rights to protect the right of the creator over his creation by the creative work in the fields of arts. The term Copyright refers to the right over the invention of one. Indian statue governing the laws related to the Copyright is the (Indian) Copyright Act, 195 whichmade inconsistent with the TRIPS Agreement, Berne Convention for Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886 and the Universal Copyrights Convention, to which India is a party.
The India regime follows the fundamental rule of copyright law laid down in Article 9(2) of Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) and Article 2 of WCT, 1996, the copyright does not subsist in ideas and only protects the original expression of the ideas. The Indian copyright offers the registration for both i.e.Indian work and foreign work.
Copyright is the right for the original creation of an artistic work which may include literary, dramatic, musical, cinematograph films, sound recordings and other artistic work. It does include the right of reproduction, communication to the public, adaptation and translation of the work. The enforcement of legal right over the artistic work is promoted to ensure the protection and reward for the creativity which eventually results in the progress of the society. the right aims to protect the interest of the creator and the community.
The work that shall be eligible for the copyright to the author includes the artistic work like painting, sculptures, drawing, engraving or a photograph etc. majorly the Copyright law deals with the three categories of works:Original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works
Cinematograph films
Sound recordings
The Indian copyright act does not make it mandatory for the author to register, it is just advisable to the author for the record of the fact with the competent authority. It is observed that the registration under the copyright act is considered as the proof of ownership and makes it easier in case of dispute in the future.
Copyright is a well-recognized form of property right specifically granted by the law of the land to the creators of literary abstracts, dramatic, musical and artistic works and the makers of cinematograph movies and/or sound chronicles. It is a bundle of rights including, inter alia, rights of reproduction, communication to the public, adaptation and translation of the work. Accordingly, it is imperative to note herein that there is no copyright protection for ideas, procedures, and methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such. The protection provided by copyright to the hard-owned endeavours of writers, artists, designers, dramatists, musicians, screenwriters, architects and producers of sound recordings, cinematograph movies and computer software, creates a healthy environment for original works with due recognition that is helpful to innovations, also this certainly prompts the artists to create more and inspire others to create. Any individual who is an author or rights owner or assignee or a legal heir can apply copyright of a work either at the copyright office or by post or by the e-filing facility from the Copyright Office website.
REGISTRATION PROCESS AND REQUIREMENTS
The copyright is not compulsory in India but it has a strong evidentiary value in the eyes of law. The procedure of the registration of copyright is not that complicated, the right of copyright emerged as the work is created by the creator. The official registration can be made in the copyright office of the Department of Education situated in New Delhi, India.
Chapter X of the Copyright Act, 1957 that contains Sections 44 to 50A significantly deals with the features for copyright registration in India. The registration/enrolment system for copyright has been altogether clarified under Section 44 of the Act. It must be noticed that the registration of the work under the Copyright Act is completely intentional or voluntary and hence is not a condition precedent for maintaining a suit for damages if smebody infringes the copyright. Registration is not a prerequisite for the acquisition of copyright. Chapter VI of the Copyright Rules, 1956, as amended from time to time, sets out the procedure for the registration of a work.
The copyright registration application has to be filed on Form IV (Including Statement of Particulars and Statement of Further Particulars) as prescribed in the first schedule to the Rules with the Copyright Registrar, referencing the points of interest of the work.
Contingent upon the kind of work, separate copyright applications may have to be filed with the Registrar.
Each application is ought to be accompanied by the requisite fee prescribed in the Second Schedule to the Copyright Rules.
The forms must be appropriately signed by the applicant and the application must be submitted by the Advocate under whose name Power of Attorney or Vakalatnama has been executed. The Power of Attorney or Vakalatnama signed by the party and accepted by the advocate should be likewise enclosed with the application.
REASONS OF DENIAL
Copyright law ensures that any work with some hint of creativity or innovation is fixed in an unmistakable medium. As the proprietor of the creative work at hand, the proprietor owns an assortment of rights related with the creative work, including the restrictive option to appropriate, recreate, perform, show, and get moulded subsidiary works. Copyright registration exists independently from custom-based law copyright assurance as portrayed previously. It gives the proprietor some critical focal points that should have to be upheld to its privileges, including an assumption that the copyright is legitimate and the capacity to look for legal harms and lawyers' expenses, the two of which can be considerable.
DEFICIENCIES IN THE APPLICATION
The deficiencies in the application are one of the major reasons for the rejection of the copyright application. If the application filed for the registration of the copyright is incomplete or not authorized then it could be rejected on the above-mentioned grounds. Also, the grounds may be like when the applicant is wrong or he/she is not authorized to apply to the said act. The failure of the payment of the fees is another reason for the rejection of copyright rejection.
WORK IS NOT FIXED IN A TANGIBLE MEDIUM OF EXPRESSION
Copyright protection commences once a work is fixed in any tangible medium of expression. As the character does not have a “tangible existence”, copyright law does not recognize nor protect the character outside the particular copyrighted work in which it appears.
WELL-KNOWN AND OFT-USED SYMBOLS ARE NOT SUBJECT TO THE COPYRIGHT
The copyright cannot be granted to the commonly used words, shapes, symbols etc. for instance the copyright was rejected when the logo for a sports team called the “Arrows” was made with the arrow shape with written Arrow.
WORK LACKS THE PROPER DOCUMENT REQUIRED
The Applicant must complete the paper before applying for the copyright. Documents Required for Copyright Registration are as follows-
Personal Details of the applicant.
Name, address & nationality of the applicant
Name, address and nationality of the author of the work
Nature of the applicant’s interest in the copyright - whether the applicant is the author of the work or the representative of the author concerned.
Copies of the original work.
ID proof of the owner and Incorporation certificate if it is for business purposes.
Nature of The Work
Class & Description of the Work
Title of the Work
Language of the Work
No objection certificate
Date Publication- Three copies of published work may be sent along with the application. Publication in internal magazines, similar to an organizational magazine (corporate magazines, societal magazines etc.) or an academic research paper submitted to an educator is not considered as a publication.
WORK IS NOT ORIGINAL
The idea behind the copyright is to protect the interest of the creator and the non original content is just not acceptable for the registration. The copyright ensures the due credits for the creator for his work and copying it would be destroying the idea of creativity and will harm the creativity among the citizens, which eventually affects the growth of society in various aspects of life.
IT DOES NOT FALL IN THE DEFINITION UNDER THE COPYRIGHT ACT
Another important criterion to fulfil for the registration of the copyright is to fall within the definition of Artistic work given under the act. The act explicitly defines Artistic work as “a painting, a sculpture, a drawing (including a diagram, map, chart or plan), an engraving or a photograph, whether or not any such work possesses artistic quality; a [work of architecture]; and any other work of artistic craftsmanship”. The definition given under the copyright act is also too limited the scope of the work to claim the right of copyright. The work has to be bound by the definition. If that work does not fall under the definition of the artistic work than it cannot be suited for the copyright. That can be better suited for any other sort of rights like patent right.
WORK IS NOT INDEPENDENTLY CREATED
When the work is not created by the creator and copied or taken from some other source that cannot be granted the copyright act because of various reasons. It is pertinent to mention here that the Independence of work does not mean work by an individual but it also includes the joint ownership on the collective work of two or more person.
The Hon’ble High Court of Bombay in the case of Angath Arts Private Limited V. Century Communication Ltd. And Anr. held that the “Joint owner of a copyright cannot, without the consent of the other joint owner, grant a license or interest in the copyright to a third party”.
WORK IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
The expression "public domain" alludes to inventive materials that are not secured by the intellectual property laws, whether, it be copyright laws, trademark laws or patent laws. People, in general, can claim these works, not being attributable to any individual creator or craftsman. Anybody can utilize public space work without getting authorization, yet nobody can claim it. Work enters the public domain when copyright expires, that is, when the copyright holder fails to renew it with the registry under the applicable jurisdiction, when it was unprotected in the first place, and when dedicated to the public domain by the owner.
WORK LACKS HUMAN AUTHORSHIP
It has been observed that since the inception of 1970s, technology created fine arts have pulled in a ton of consideration. The majority of these PC produced fine arts are depended vigorously on the developer who gives the contribution to the production of the work. In any case, with mechanical headway, man-made reasoning has created to the degree that it is equipped for comprehension and making results/yields with no obstruction by the human. The works created by AI can be arranged as "works created by AI with human impedance" and "works created by AI with no human impedance".
WORK IS INELIGIBLE BASED ON CLAIMANT’S NATIONALITY OR DOMICILE OR NATION OF FIRST PUBLICATION AND/OR OTHER INTERNATIONAL/TREATY RELATED BASES FOR INELIGIBILITY:
The term 'foreign work' isn't characterized by the Copyright Act, 1957. In any case, to decide "foreign work", it tends to be contemplated that any work which doesn't qualify as "Indian Work" under Section 2 (l) of the Act is delegated "foreign work". To ensure Indian works in far off nations, India has become an individual from the accompanying worldwide shows on copyright and neighbouring (related) right.
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic works
Universal Copyright Convention
Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against Unauthorized Duplication of their Phonograms
Multilateral Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation of Copyright Royalties
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
Under the Indian Legislation, copyright of works of the countries mentioned in the International Copyright Order is protected in India, as if such works are Indian work.Therefore, in India, the relative ground must be as such met to make ends meet and get copyright registered without any denial to the same.
-Devna Arora