Copyright is the exclusive right granted to the author of an original work, including the right to authorize or ban the publication, adaptation and distribution of that work. Copyright lasts for a certain time period after which the work is said to enter the public domain.
Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or information that is discrete, substantive and fixed in a medium. Copyright is described under the umbrella term intellectual property along with trademarks and patents.
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Copyright Registration is a form of protection provided to the authors of “original works” which includes, songs, lyrics, music, literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished.
The copyright owner has the right to reproduce the copyrighted song or lyric, to create derivatives or variations of that song or lyric and to distribute it, to perform and display it publicly, However it is strongly advised that copyright registration is applied for and secured before a song or lyric is aired or released into the public domain.
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India’s copyright law, laid down in the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 as amended by Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1999, fully reflects the Berne Convention on Copyrights, to which India is a party.
Additionally, India is party to the Geneva Convention for the Protection of rights of Producers of Phonograms and to the Universal Copyright Convention. India is also an active member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva and UNESCO.
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The copyright law has been amended periodically to keep pace with changing requirements. The recent amendment to the copyright law, which came into force in May 1995, has ushered in comprehensive changes and brought the copyright law in line with the developments in satellite broadcasting, computer software and digital technology.
The amended law has made provisions for the first time, to protect performer’s rights as envisaged in the Rome Convention
Several measures have been adopted to strengthen and streamline the enforcement of copyrights. These include the setting up of a Copyright Enforcement Advisory Council, training programs for enforcement officers and setting up special policy cells to deal with cases relating to infringement of copyrights.