The document discusses copyright law in India's digital era. It provides an overview of copyright, including what constitutes a copyright, amendments made to extend protections to digital works, and exceptions for areas like education and research. It also covers prominent copyright issues in the digital space, such as how encryption, digital watermarks, and digital rights management are used to protect works. While protections aim to balance rights holders' interests with public access, copyright infringement remains an ongoing challenge, especially online, requiring continued enforcement of protections under Indian law.

1. COPY RIGHT LAW IN DIGITAL ERA
PRESENTED BY – SUNIL SAINI

2. About Copy Right
 The Copyright Act, 1957 came into effect from January 1958.
 This Act has been amended six times till date since then, i.e., in 1983, 1984, 1991, 1994, 1999
and 2012.
 The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 is the most substantial.
 The main reasons for amendments to the Copyright Act, 1957 are extension of copyright
protection in the digital environment and for conformity with WCT (World Copy Right Treaty)
and WPPT (World Performance and Phonograms Treaty)

3. What is Copy Right
The purposes of this Act, “copyright” means the exclusive right subject to the provisions of this
Act, to do or authorize the doing of any of the following acts in respect of computer
programming, sound, artistic work, cinematography, or any substantial part thereof, namely
 To reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by
electronic means.
 To issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation.
 To make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work.
 To make any translation of the work.
 To make any adaptation of the work.
 To sell or give on commercial rental or offer for sale or for commercial rental any copy of the
computer programme.

4. The major objective of the copyright law
 The major objective of the copyright law is to strike out a balance between rights of
the copyright holders and the general public.
 To achieve its objective, copyright has been amended with time to time so as to
meet the requirements posed by the technological advancements.
 Indian Copyright Act has also been amended to counter the threats posed by the
technological developments.
 The major changes in copyright legislation have been in response to advances in
technology. Since the development of internet, there have been major
Amendments to the Copyright Act every two or three years.
 While protecting the Copyright owners these measures conflict with the legitimate
rights of Copyright users. “The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the
labour of authors, but ‘to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.’
 To this end, copyright assures authors the right to their original expression, but
encourages others to build freely upon the ideas and information conveyed by a
work.
 This result is neither unfair nor unfortunate. It is the means by which copyright

5. PROMINENT COPYRIGHT ISSUES
The prominent copyright issues in the digital era can be
classified into three groups
• GROUP 1: Issues relating to a whole new set of work
namely computer programs, databases and multimedia
works.
• GROUP 2: Issues relating reproduction, distribution and
communication to the public of a work through digital media.
• GROUP 3: Issues relating to management and administration of copyright in the digital
environment

6. Digital Right Management
Digital Right Management includes techniques which have been developed to control
duplication, modification and distribution of original works. The authors or the creators of the
original works contend that DRM techniques are necessary in order to protect their interest by
preventing free and unauthorized copying and distribution of their work. However there are few
who support the view that DRM
techniques pose unnecessary hurdles for the public and impede the way of innovation and
creativity by not letting others from being motivated by the original work of others.

7. ACCESS CONTROL AND COPY CONTROL IN DIGITAL ERA
Access and copy control software enables the creator to keep a check on
the free and illegal exploitation of their work. These techniques ensure
that only who pay, must enjoy a right over the product.
Access controls are a category of software that is designed to prevent a
user from getting a first copy of a work unless they have a license to do
so. Copy controls are snippets of software that try to stop public from
making a reproduction of work once they have obtained a copy.
Access controls are relatively easy to implement. Example of this can be
a website that requires customers to pay a fee before being offered a
download.
Copy controls avoid any manipulation of the original work.

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 Special features are embedded into the content that are not visible.
 Some can be read by a detection device so that it knows whether the content being
played or used is authorized and where the source of the content was originated.
 Such information can provide data on the author, rights, distribution, etc.
 It can also contain copy control information and instructions.
 There are other various technological protection measures by way of which the
infringement of copyright work can be prevented and the interest of the authors can
be secured.
 However in spite of these techniques large number of data is copied and distributed on
the digital environment posing adverse effects on the rights of the creators.

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ENCRYPTION SCHEMES-
Encryption Schemes allow creators to prevent any unauthorized access to their original work.
Encryption of content is a way to determine the authorized user in the digital environment.
Encryption involves digital scrambling of the bits that make up content to prevent the content from
being seen clearly until it is decrypted. Only authorized users have the keys to decrypt the work.
DIGITAL WATERMARKS-
Digital Watermarks are the best techniques that help authors to trace the source of a work and any
unauthorized duplication or distribution of their original work. The unique watermark embedded in
the original work can link the use to the original work and any unauthorized copying or use can be
traced.

10. Type of work Protected
•Literary
•dramatic,
•musical and
•artistic works
Lifetime of the author + sixty
years from the beginning of the
calendar year next following the
year in which the author dies.
•Anonymous and pseudonymous
works
•Posthumous work
•Cinematograph films
•Sound records
•Government work
•Public undertakings
•International Agencies
•photographs
Until sixty years from the beginning
of the calendar years next following
the year in which the work is first
published

11. Certain acts not to be infringement of copyright.(Chapter XI of Act 1957)
 The Copyright Act 1957 exempts certain acts from the ambit of copyright infringement. While many
people tend to use the term fair use to denote copyright exceptions in India, it is a factually wrong
usage. While the US and certain other countries follow the broad fair use exception, India follows a
different approach towards copyright exceptions. India follows a hybrid approach that allows-
 Fair dealing with any copyrighted work for certain specifically mentioned purposes and certain
specific activities enumerated in the statute.
 Private or personal use, including research and education.
 Criticism or Review.
 Reporting of current events and current affairs, including the reporting of a lecture delivered in
public.
 While the term fair dealing has not been defined anywhere in the Copyright Act 1957, the concept of
'fair dealing' has been discussed in different judgments, including the decision of the Supreme Court of
India in Academy of General Education v. B. Malini Mallya (2009) and the decision of the High Court of
Kerala in Civic Chandran v. Ammini Amma.
 In September 2016, the Delhi High Court ruled in Delhi University's Rameshwari Photocopy Service
shop case, which sold photocopies of chapters from academic textbooks was not infringing on their
publisher's copyright, arguing that the use of copyright to "stimulate activity and progress in the arts
for the intellectual enrichment of the public" outweighed its use by the publishers to maintain
commercial control of their property. However, in December 2016, the ruling was reversed and taken
back to court, citing that there were “Triable(an offence) issues" in the case.

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 The doing of any act necessary to obtain information essential for
operating inter-operability of an independently created computer
programme with other programmes by a lawful possessor of a
computer programme provided that such information is not otherwise
readily available;
 the observation, study or test of functioning of the computer programme in order
to determine the ideas and principles which underline any elements of the
programme while performing such acts necessary for the functions for
which the computer programme was supplied;
 The making of copies or adaptation of the computer programme from
a personally legally obtained copy for non-commercial personal use;
 The transient or incidental storage of a work or performance purely in
the technical process of electronic transmission or communication to
the public.

13.  The reproduction of any work for the purpose of a judicial proceeding or for the purpose of a
report of a judicial proceeding;
 The reproduction or publication of any work prepared by the Secretariat of a Legislature or,
where the legislature consists of two Houses, by the Secretariat of either House of the
Legislature, exclusively for the use of the members of that Legislature;
 The reproduction of any work in a certified copy made or supplied in accordance with any law for
the time being in force;
 The reading or recitation in public of reasonable extracts from a published literacy or dramatic
work;
 The publication in a collection, mainly composed of non-copyright matter, bona fide intended for
instructional use, and so described in the title and in any advertisement issued by or on behalf of
the publisher, of short passages from published literary or dramatic works, not themselves
published for such use in which copyright subsists.
Provided that not more than two such passages from works by the same author are published by
the same publisher during any period of five years.
 The reproduction of any work by a teacher or a pupil in the course of instruction;
or(ii) as part of the question to be answered in an examination; or(iii) in answers to
such questions.

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 The performance, in the course of the activities of an educational institution, of a
literary, dramatic or musical work by the staff and students of the institution, or of a
cinematograph film or a sound recording if the audience is limited to such staff and
students, the parents and guardians of the students and persons connected with the
activities of the institution or the communication to such an audience of a
cinematograph film or sound recording
 As part of the activities of a club or similar organisation which is not established or
conducted for profit;
 The performance of a literary, dramatic or musical work by an amateur club or
society, if the performance is given to a non-paying audience, or for the benefit of a
religious institution.
 The reproduction in a newspaper, magazine or other periodical of an article on current
economic, political, social or religious topics, unless the author of such article has
expressly reserved to himself the right of such reproduction;
 The storing of a work in any medium by electronic means by a non-commercial public
library, for preservation if the library already possesses a non-digital copy of the
work;

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 The making of not more than three copies of a book (including a pamphlet, sheet of music, map,
chart or plan) by or under the direction of the person in charge of a non-commercial public
library for the use of the library if such book is not available for sale in India.
 The reproduction, for the purpose of research or private study or with a view to publication, of
an unpublished literary, dramatic or musical work kept in a library, museum or other institution
to which the public has access: Provided that where the identity of the author of any such work
or, in the case of a work of joint authorship, of any of the authors is known to the library,
museum or other institution, as the case may be, the provisions of this clause shall apply only if
such reproduction is made at a time more than sixty years from the date of the death of the
author or, in the case of a work of joint authorship, from the death of the author whose identity
is known or, if the identity of more authors than one is known from the death of such of those
authors who dies last.
 The reproduction or publication of—(i) any matter which has been published in any Official
Gazette except an Act of a Legislature.
 The report of any committee, commission, council, board or other like body appointed by the
Government if such report has been laid on the Table of the Legislature, unless the reproduction
or publication of such report is prohibited by the Government.
 Any judgment or order of a court, tribunal or other judicial authority, unless the reproduction or
publication of such judgment or order is prohibited by the court, the tribunal or other judicial
authority, as the case may be;

16. Copy Right Office
Section 9 of the Copyright Act requires for establishment of an office to be called the Copyright
Office for the purpose of the Act. The Copyright Office is to be under the immediate control of a
Registrar of Copyrights to be appointed by the Central Government, who would act under the
superintendence and directions of the Central Government. The Copyright Office is currently
located at the following address:
Boudhik Sampada Bhawan,
Plot No. 32, Sector 14, Dwarka,
New Delhi-110075
Telephone No.: 011-28032496, 08929474194

17. Remedies available against copyright
infringement in India
 The Copyright Act 1957 provides three kinds of remedies .
1. Administrative remedies
2. Civil remedies
3. Criminal remedies
 The administrative remedies provided under the statute include detention of the infringing
goods by the customs authorities.
 The civil remedies are provided under Chapter XII of the Copyright Act 1957 and the
remedies provided include injunctions, damages and account of profits.
 The criminal remedies are provided under Chapter XIII of the statute and the remedies
provided against copyright infringement include imprisonment (up to 3 years) along with a
fine (up to 200,000 Rupees)

18. Conclusion-
Few DRM provisions were introduced in the Indian Copyright law by the way of an
amendment in 2012. Section 65A and 65B were added to the Indian Copyright Act, 1957.
These DRM provisions under the Indian law are not as extensive and exhaustive as US
laws. Being blamed for the poor protection and enforcement policies, it is high time
India should stringently follow these provisions of digital rights management and keep a
check on copyright infringement in the digital environment. However it is pertinent to
note that a balance must always be maintained between copyright holders and general
users.

19. References:-
 http://copyright.gov.in
 https://www.altacit.com/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright

20. Thank you