Abstract:
Copyright infringement is known as the use of copyrighted works without the permission of the creators, copyright holders or authors. It is a form of dishonesty and a violation of the authors’ economic and exclusive rights. In general, copyright infringement activities have taken place in various ways such as theft, piracy, reuse and plagiarism.
Copyright infringement is the use or production of copyright-protected material without the permission of the copyright holder. Copyright infringement means that the rights afforded to the copyright holder, such as the exclusive use of a work for a set period of time, are being breached by a third party. Music and movies are two of the most well-known forms of entertainment that suffer from significant amounts of copyright infringement. Infringement cases may lead to contingent liabilities, which are amounts set aside in case of a possible lawsuit.
Keywords:
Copyright infringement, Copyright infringement law, Copyright infringement cases, Copyright infringement penalty, Copyright Act.
Introduction:
Intellectual property right is a term that refers to exclusive rights given to copyright holders of original works of authorship and inventors of products of industrial art to their products and symbols. The main goal of these rights is to promote creation and inventive occupation with the possibility to receive remuneration for work. IP rights include patents, which protect inventions; copyrights, which give authors’ rights on literary and artistic works; trademarks that provide rights to marks used by manufacturers or producers on the markets for their output; and trade secrets that can be used to protect secret business methods. These rights are particularly important for the development of the economy, fair competition, and covering new initiatives for the masses to consume. However, the question about how to ensure balance between these protections and the interests of the public and find ways to curb abuse is one of the most critical issues in IP law.
Research Methodology:
This is a descriptive paper and is based on comprehensive review of existing literature on copyright law, infringement cases, and enforcement mechanisms in India and globally. Sources of information like articles, legal texts, case studies, and reports are used to understand the current landscape of copyright infringement.
Review of Literature :
To provide a review of literature on copyright infringement cases, the following sources offer valuable insights:
“Literature Review on Copyright Infringement and Protection” by Singh Jnanendra Narayan in the Library Herald, Volume 52, Issue 2, 2014 deals with the problem of copyright infringements that now can be attributed, among others, to the impacts of information technology.
Dr. Suneet, a prior researcher associated with the International Journal of Innovative Research In Engineering & Management (IJIREM), Volume 9, Issue 2, April 2022, published “A Review on Copyright,” a publication that examines all of the above aspects of copyright – protection, ownership, and technology’s influence on intellectual property law.
“Copyright and its various related issues: A review of literature” explores the public domain, copyright laws, and the dilemmas endured by the copyright law in today’s technological world.
The article entitled “Copyright Issues in Legal Research and Writing” by Lisa P. Lukose in the University School of Law and Legal Studies, Indraprastha University” is interesting because it focuses on the copyright issues in legal research and writing, specifically why legal researchers and writers should learn and become aware of the relevant copyright laws for the purpose of avoiding copyright infringement and plagiarism.
“Copyright and Freedom of Expression: A Literature Review”: Contractualism as an Approach to Copyright and Freedom of Expression by Yin Harn Lee analyses the controversies and questions in consideration of how copyright and freedom of expression come into contact with each other.
All of these sources together offer a general view of technology-oriented copyright infringement cases and encompass subjects like technological features on copyright criminality, legal influences on copyright criminality, copyright infringement on intellectual property, and law and the conflict between copyright and freedom of speech.
Purpose of Copyright:
Copyright exits for more reasons than to protect the interests of creators/ Authors. It also means to promote and secure the art of original creator. We need copyright act because to secure and promote the art and the artist.
The Copyright Act, 1957 Protects original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and cinematographs film and sound recording from unauthorized uses unlike the case with patents copyright protects the expression and not the ideas.
Intellectual Property (IP):
Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, and names and images used in commerce. IP is divided into two categories.
Industrial property: This includes patents for inventions, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications.
Copyright: This includes literary works (e.g. novels and poems), films, music, artistic works (e.g. drawings, paintings, photographs, and sculptures), and architectural designs.
History of copyrighting
The German Licensing Act of 1662 was the first law that sought to protect literary rights. No book which has not been issued a license shall be printed under this legislation. The Statute of Anne came into force in 1709.
It was the first copyright law in the world, or as we call it England and one of its purposes was to protect authors against piracy. Only literary works were covered by this act, but other legislation such as the Engraving Copyright Act of 1734 and the Fine Arts Copyright Act of 1862 ensured protection for all forms of creative work.
Many copyright laws existed prior to India’s independence, including the India Copyright Act of 1847, the Copyright Act of 1911, and the Copyright Act of 1914. However, the first copyright law enacted after India’s independence was the Copyright Act of 1957, which is still in effect. Section 2(y) states that literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, cinematographic film, and sound recording are all considered works under the Copyright Act, regardless of whether they are registered.
The Copyright Act 1957
The Act was passed to replace the Indian Copyright Act of 1957 as the effective act for copyright management in the country. It ranges from all aspects of India and took effect on 21 January 1958.The Act has been revised on several occasions over the years and the last revision is in 2012.
The Act defines different terms used including ‘adaptation’, ‘artistic work’, ‘author’, ‘calendar year’, ‘collective manager’, etc. They are useful in copyrighting book, music, drama, movies and sound recordings.
Some of the rights accorded to the owner of copyright include: the right to translate the work, adaptation rights, reproducing rights, and distributing rights under Section 14of the Act. These rights can never be exercised unless such an owner allows it.
The Act provides for “Performers’ Rights’ for authors or performers of literary works, sound recordings or performances and broadcast in actors performance of a performance included in a sound recording or films. These rights apply to artistic works and ensure that they are protected for 50 years after the performance of the work and cannot be transferred by agreement.
The Copyright (Amendment) Rules 2021 were put through to bring copyrights in harmony with other legal statutes.
The rules guarantee royalties and royalty handlings by increasing royalty accounting and tax transparency and by simplifying registration for software.
Rights of Research Owners:
Research owners, often referred to as principal investigators or lead researchers, hold various rights related to their work. i.e.,
Patent Rights: If the research leads to a patentable invention, the research owner may have the right to file for a patent and be recognized as the inventor. This often involves their institution or funding agency, which may have policies governing patent rights and revenue sharing.
Publications Rights: Researchers have the right to publish their findings in academic journals, books, or other media. They usually decide where and when to publish, although this may be influenced by the terms of their funding agreements or institutional policies.
Recognition and Attributions: The right to claim credit for the work of research owners is vested in them. Proper authorship in publications and acknowledgements, presentations or other forms of dissemination shall also be taken into account.
Copyright: The original written work produced by researchers, e.g. articles, books and reports, is entitled to copyright protection. They shall have the right of publication and dissemination of their work.
Data Ownership and Access: The rights to the data that they produce are usually owned by the research owner. This includes the possibility of controlling access to data and deciding how they can be used or shared, although these must comply with ethical guidelines as well as any agreements on funding from financing bodies or partners.
Control Over research direction: Research owners generally have the right to decide on their research’s direction and scope, within the limits of ethics guidance and funding requirements. Decisions on the methodology, collaboration and focus of their studies are part of this.
Commercialization Rights: The research owner often has the right to participate in the commercialization process if the research leads to a commercial product or service. Licensing agreements, establishment of new businesses or collaboration with industry partners may also be part of this.
Types of Copyright Infringement:
There are two types of copyright infringement: primary infringement and secondary infringement. They can be referred to as direct and indirect infringement, respectively.
- Primary Infringement- It refers to demonstrating the genuine deed of making encroaching duplicates of crafted by the copyright holder, for instance, making a recording of a new cinematograph film and afterward transferring it on the sites.
- Secondary infringement- Contributing to the primary act of copyright infringement is this kind of infringement. A lawful hypothesis makes an individual liable for copyright encroachment for participating in exercises like selling, conveying, and bringing in encroaching duplicates and giving a spot that can be utilized for correspondence of work to people in general.
Test for Copyright Infringement:
- Comparison: Conduct a side-by-side comparison of the original work and the alleged infringing work.
- Consultation: Seek advice from a legal expert in intellectual property law to get a professional assessment.
- Documentation: Gather all relevant documentation, including evidence of creation dates, licenses, and any communications regarding permission.
Legal Enforcement and Remedies:
- Civil remedies- As per Section 55 of Copyright Act, Civil remedies provide a range of options for copyright holders to address and rectify instances of infringement. These remedies are designed to compensate the copyright holder, prevent further unauthorized use, and deter future infringements. The choice of remedy often depends on the specifics of the case, the nature of the infringement, and the damages suffered by the copyright holder.
- Criminal remedies- As per Section 63 of Copyright Act, any person who knowingly infringes or abets the infringement of the copyright in any work commits criminal offence.
- Administrative remedies- When some goods are imported from one country to another country. The process of importing goods into a nation for sale. Sometimes, restrictions are imposed on the importation of goods, which means that they cannot be sold in all territories or can only be sold in certain territories. The injured party can approach the registrar of Copyright to restrict the import of infringing copies to the copyright owner because any act in violation of these stipulations results in copyright infringement through importation.
Strategies for Copyright Protection:
In the era 21st century to protect your intellectual property became more difficult. But keeping some important things in mind it can be easier to safe your property.
Register your copyright: Do registration of your copyright in the Indian Copyright Act,1957, it is not mandatory to register but you register your work it can easy for you to claim ownership.
Utilize copyright notices: By using copyright notice people are being aware that their work is protected under copyright act. Use the symbol of ©
Digital watermarks: Use digital watermarks on your work. Like some symbol which is embedded in data. They are helpful in the eliminating and piracy of your digital assets.
Case Laws:
Saregama India Ltd. v. Sanjay Bansal: In this case ,the copyright holder Saregama India Ltd. a company engaged in the same sound recording filed a suit for infringement of the copy right of the original sound record by Sanjay Bansal. Saregama India was awarded damages by the court as Bansal was found guilty of infringing copyrights and distribution of mp3s containing original copyrights. This significant case focuses on the legal implications for those who enter into copyright infringement and demonstrates how strict the law is on protecting intellectual property by acquiring the right to use copyrighted content.
Bolt Technology Ou & anr v. Ujoy Technology Private Limited & Ors.: The case recognized forms of copyright infringement in a historic judgment through writers’ and composers’ rights. One of the arguments presented by the court was based on the right of the writers to make a profit when their sound recordings are played to the public through the radio. Judging from this, the court affirmed that the public radio broadcast of a sound recording does involve a use of the underlying literary and musical works and therefore writers have a right to still receive royalties for any use of their works outside of a movie theatre.
Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd. v. Sri Sai Ganesh Productions: Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd. filed a suit concerning a Copyright Infringement which claimed Yash Raj Films for unauthorized duplication and distribution of a particular film. The key points of this case are:
On March 6, 2013, Delhi High Court issued an ad interim injunction in an ex-parte manner in the favor of YRF.
The court finally determined that a cinematograph film is not merely a collective work of its component parts and that copyright in a film may be recognized independently of copyright in the underlying works. There are moments within a film that can be duplicated and hence termed as copy; here it does not mean making an identical copy but the duplicating the concept that the film is built on.
This case brings out the legal repercussion on those that do unauthorized remake or adaptation of copyrighted films and therefore the need for limiting the violations of intellectual property rights in the film industry.
Microsoft Corporation v. Yogesh Popat: In this case, Microsoft Corporation took legal action against Yogesh Popat for selling pirated copies of Microsoft software. The court ruled in favor of Microsoft, holding Popat liable for copyright infringement and directing him to cease the sale of unauthorized software and pay damages.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. Dhoom Torrents: In this case, Warner Bros., a renowned film production company, filed a copyright infringement suit against Dhoom Torrents, a website facilitating the unauthorized downloading and sharing of copyrighted movies. The court ruled in favor of Warner Bros., ordering the shutdown of the website and awarding damages for copyright infringement.
Pidilite Industries Ltd. vs Sanjay Jain: In this case the Delhi high Court has refused to cancel the registration of the “Kwikheal” trademark and dismissed a plea filed by Pidilite Industries Limited, an Indian adhesive’s manufacturing company based in Mumbai. Justice Anish Dayal observed that even though Pidilite has a statutory right in its registered mark “Fevikwik”, it does not confer an exclusive right over part of the mark.
Sarla A.Saraogi & Ors. v. State of Punjab. Krishna Kishore Singh: In this case, the New Delhi High Court refused to put an interlocutory injunction against the distribution and broadcasting of cinematograph films alleged to have been referring to Mr Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR). The court concluded that SSR’s parents had not presented the ‘prima facie’ necessary evidence to claim infringement was taking place. The court concluded, among other things, that fame rights are extinguished upon death of an individual and do not survive in any form and that as far as the issue of the use of information from the official sources is concerned, there is no liability attached to such use. It also went on to explain that in circumstances where material found in the public domain has been placed under restraint, the cardinal principles of freedom of speech and expression will override Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
In Star India (P) Ltd. v. Piyush Agarwal & Ors.,A legal action was instituted against Piyush Agarwal (Cricbuzz), Idea Cellular (IDEA), and OnMobile Global Ltd. (ONMOBILE) by STAR India Pvt. BCCI is named as a common defendant but it kets’ STAR which alleges absolute ownership of all such cricket information and has primary rights due to its role as organizer and promoter of cricket in India. STAR and BCCI strongly justify their points that the agreement of 10 will empower them. 08. As per the 2012 agreement, the Media Rights And Media Activation Rights were given to the STAR group to cover a set of rights sMobile Rights and sMobile Activation Rights. It can be stated that STAR claims that the defendants violate these rights and requests that they are granted an interim injunction.
Suggestions:
Use ‘digital rights management’ (DRM) technologies in order to imagine controlling how their work is used and disseminated on line.
Put watermarks in your digital content to help discourage people from copying and illegally sharing your work, or give you a lead on who the infringers might be.
There are tools and services out there that can protect your work from the internet by keeping monitor on their website if they have used the content you have created. Copyscape, Google Alerts and the DMCA. com also may assist in the infringement detection.
The latter are places that could be used to upload or sell your work for free or at a meager price without your consent; some of the common platforms include YouTube, Facebook, eBay, and others.
The first aspect of detection of unauthorized usage is notification of the infringer to cease and desist, the notification can include request for a settlement.
For online infringement, use the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 where you contact the copyright service provider and ask for infringing content to be removed.
Finally, if the first course of action does not prove effective, the company should think about filing a legal action. Seek legal advice by an intellectual property attorney to identify defects in your case as well as the best overall legal strategy.
Inform people and your customers on the need to respect others’ right to intellectual property. This may help in limiting cases of unintentional infringement.
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Conclusion:
Plagiarism can be considered as one of the most dangerous types of infringement that threatens the owners of the intellectual property. With digital technologies becoming more advanced and interconnected, the risks of using and/or distributing copyrighted materials without the owner’s consent have increased, making the protection of intellectual property rights even more crucial. There are almost 4 steps to develop an effective copyright regime that encompasses legal rights, prevention measures, observation and enforcement steps to combat infringement.
The consumers can and should be educated on the intellectual property rights as well as the copyright laws. Another benefit of registering copyrights is that it can make for higher statutory damages as well as better legal standing during court cases.
The use of DRM, watermarking, and clear licensing terms is very crucial in order to prevent the unauthorized use and define legally permissive use of the copyrighted works.
The effective control of copyright rights should involve all the activities connected with the infringement of copyright and the timely reaction of the rights holders to this issue by sending cease and desist letters, or filing DMCA takedown and other legal claims. There are several civil remedies such as actual and statutory damages, attorney’s fees, and injunction to compensate for violation and prohibit further infringement of copyright.
Education and demonstration to the general public especially on the advantages of copyright legislations to protect the holders of intellectual property rights can assist in shaping the society to respect IPR.
Together, these attempt to achieve the objective of enshrined by copyright laws in as far as ensuring that owners of copyrighted works are protected and have their investments recognized and rewarded. How Current Copyright and Technological Theories Address the Challenges to Copyrighting in Digital Environments.
Shradha Rana
Campus Law Centre, DU