In the contemporary age, the society has understood the value and need of the copyright law and because of this every nation, be it large or small, developed or developing has framed its own copyright law and are gradually amending it to bring it in conformity with the changing needs of the society. Due to the advancement of technology, the dissemination of the creative work has become boundaryless and hence the need to make law in conformity with the changes.

Thus, the nations are striving hard to make such copyright laws, which can cater to these changing needs. This paper is an attempt to trace the origin and development of the present Indian law. Copyright is a unique and interesting subject in itself. Like patents, copyright is also a kind of intellectual property right. It is a proprietary right of the artist, author or creator and comes into existence as soon as the work is created. It is the exclusive right to do or authorise others to do certain acts in relation to dramatic, musical and artistic works, literary works, cinematograph film, sound recordings, computer databases etc.

Copyright is a kind of intellectual property, the importance of which has increased enormously in recent times due to the rapid technological development. Copyright means the exclusive rights to do or authorize others to do certain acts in relation to: original, literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematograph film, and sound recordings

Basically, a copyright is the right to copy or reproduce the work in which the copyright subsists. The exclusive right for doing the respective acts extends not only to the whole of the work but to any substantial part thereof or to any translation or adaptation thereof, where applicable. The term period of a copyright is the life of the author of the work plus sixty years with certain exceptions.

The object of copyright law is to encourage authors, composers, artists and designers to create original work by rewarding them with an exclusive right for a limited period to exploit the work for monetary gain. The economic exploitation is done by licensing such exclusive right to entrepreneurs like publishers, film producers and record manufacturers for a monetary consideration.

The Copyright Board

The Copyright Board, a quasi-judicial body, was constituted by the Central movement in the year 1958. The jurisdiction of the Copyright Board extends o the whole of India. The Board is entrusted with the task of adjudication of Disputes pertaining to copyright registration, assignment of copyright, grant of Licenses in respect of works with held from the public, unpublished Indian works, production and publication of translations and works for certain specified purposes. It also hears cases in other miscellaneous matters instituted before under the Copyright Act, 1957.

Section 11 of the Copyright Act, 1957 provides for the establishment of the "Copyright Board" or now termed as the "Appellate Board". It is a quasi-judicial body constituted by the Central Government. In accordance with Section 11 of the Copyright Act, 1957, the Appellate Board shall be the same board as established under Section 83 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, that is, a board constituted by the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, to be known as the Intellectual Property Appellate Board to exercise the jurisdiction, powers and authority conferred on it by the Act.

It consists of a Chairman and two other members. The Chairman of the copyright board must be a person who is or has been judge of a High Court or qualified for appointment as a judge of a High Court. The Central Government may after consultation with the Chairman appoint a Secretary to the Copyright Board and such other officers and employees as may be considered necessary for the efficient discharge of functions of the Board.

It consists of a chairman and not more than fourteen other members. The Chairman and the members shall hold their office for five years. They may be reappointed on the expiry of the tenure. The chairman of the copyright board must be a person who is or has been judge of a High Court or is qualified for appointment as a judge of a High Court. There is no qualification mentioned about the members of the Board.

The Registrar of Copyright also plays a very important role. The Registrar of the copyright board will perform all secretarial functions of the copyright board. The Registrar of the Copyright is the authority under Section 9 of the Act who is the officer of the Copyright Office. The Registrar of Copyright has powers of the civil court and every order made by the registrar of payment of money is deemed as a decree of a civil court and is executed as decree of such court.

The Board shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of Sections 345 and 346 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and all proceedings before the Board shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of Sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code.

During the last few decades, the nature of activities handled by the Copyright Board has changed significantly. Many issues dealt with by the Copyright Board go beyond mere registration of copyright. It extends to compulsory licences and assignments in complex areas such as broadcasting requiring sufficient knowledge and skill. The Standing Committee of the Parliament which discussed the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010 as it was tabled in the Rajya Sabha, also suggested changes in the Copyright Board considering the multifarious responsibilities it is now called upon to discharge. This reformist approach is timely.

In fact, the constitution of the Board and other formalities was seeing commendable progress as the Copyright Board Salaries and Allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the Chairman and other Members Rules, 2014 were notified on March 24, 2014 pursuant to Section 11(2) of the Copyright Act, 1957. As per the said rules, allowance payable to the Board members were fixed along with other employment benefits.

The broadcasting organization shall give prior notice to the right holders, pay royalty as fixed by the Copyright Board in advance. The names of the authors and principal performers shall be announced during the broadcast. The broadcasting organization shall maintain records of the broadcast, books of account and render to the owner such records and books of account. At present, the access to copyright works by broadcasters was dependent on voluntary licensing. As a result unreasonable terms and conditions were being set by the copyright societies and owners.

There are divergent views by the courts in interpreting the existing compulsory licensing provisions under Section 31. There were litigations pending before various High Courts as well as the Copyright Board regarding the nature of licence and the rate of royalties to be paid when works particularly songs were used for broadcasting.

Automatic licence or non-voluntary licence such as the proposed statutory licence ensuring adequate return to the owner of works was the best solution to make access easy for broadcasting industry. There are no special courts for copyright cases. The regular courts try these cases. There is a Copyright Board to adjudicate certain cases pertaining to copyright.

Evolution Of Copyright Board

Establishment of copyright boards and offices
The Copyright Act of 1957 also makes provisions for the establishment of a copyright board to assist in resolving copyright-related issues and a copyright office, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Registrar of the Copyright, for the registration of books and other "works" of art. The establishment of an office to be known as the Copyright Office for Act purposes is provided for under Section 9 of the Copyright Act, 1957. The Copyright Board was established under Section 11 of the Copyright Act of 1957.

Disputes related to the assignment of copyright
According to the Copyright Act, 1957, the appellant board where the receipt of the complaint by the assignor and after holding necessary inquiry finds that the assignee has failed to make the exercise of the rights assigned to him, and such failure is attributed to any act or omission of the assignor, may by suitable order, revoke such assignment. However, if the dispute arises with respect to the assignment of any copyright then that appellate board may also order the recovery of any royalty payable.

Highlights of the Amendment- Appellate Board:
Section 11 of the Copyright Act, 1957 provides for the establishment of the "Copyright Board" or now termed as the "Appellate Board". It is a quasi-judicial body constituted by the Central Government. In accordance with Section 11 of the Copyright Act, 1957, the Appellate Board shall be the same board as established under Section 83 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, that is, a board constituted by the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, to be known as the Intellectual Property Appellate Board to exercise the jurisdiction, powers and authority conferred on it by the Act.'

Composition Of Copyright Board

Chairman

Mr.S. Ramaiah
(Former Law Secretary to the Government of India)

Member

• Joint Secretary-in-charge of Copyrights, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Secondary Education and Higher Education, Government of India
• Joint Secretary and Legal Adviser in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs, dealing with Department of Secondary Education and Higher Education, Government of India
• Law Secretary, Government of Kerala
• Law Secretary, Government of Karnataka
• Law Secretary, Government of Rajasthan
• Law Secretary, Government of West Bengal
• Law Secretary, Government of Meghalaya
• Law Secretary, Government of Maharashtra
• Law Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh
• Law Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh

Members In Copyright Board

Section 11 of the Copyright Act requires the Central Government to constitute a Copyright Board headed by a Chairman with not less than two and not more than 14 other members. The Chairman and other members of the Copyright Board shall hold office for such period and on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed.

The Board consists of a Chairman and other members. The person to be appointed as a Chairman of the Copyright Board shall be qualified to hold the office of a judge of a High Court or could be holding such position or must have held. There is no qualification mentioned about the members of the Board. The Chairman and the members shall hold their office for five years. The members as aforesaid shall be eligible for reappointment.

Copyright is monopolistic in nature. It restricts others from using the rights of a copyright A copyright is a form of intellectual property because it protects the product of a human mind. owner. Copyright is a negative right it stops others from copying the work protected under copyright.

The Chairman and other members of the Copyright Board shall be appointed for such period not exceeding five years as the Central Government may in each case deem fit. The Chairman and other members of the Copyright Board shall, on the expiry of the period of their appointment, be eligible for re-appointment.

Registrar Of Copyrights And Application For Registration

Registrar of Copyrights:
The Central Government shall appoint a Registrar of Copyrights and may appoint one or more Deputy Registrars of Copyrights. The Registrar of Copyrights has the powers of a civil court when trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure in respect of the following matters, namely, summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath; requiring the discovery and production of any document; receiving evidence on affidavit; issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents; requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office; any other matters which may be prescribed.

Copyright Registrar primarily serves as an office of record, a place where claims to copyright are registered and documents related to copyright are recorded. the purpose is to furnish information about the provisions of the copyright law and the procedures for making registration, to explain the operations and practices of the Copyright Office, and to report on facts found in the public records of the Office.

Application for registration of copyright:
The applications for registration of all types of works can be filled at the Copyright Office. The applications are also accepted by post. Online registration through "E-filing facility" has been provided from 8 September 2009, which facilitates the applicants to file applications at the time and place chosen by them. There exists a set procedure for registration of a work under the Copyright Rules 1958 which has been suitably amended from time to time and registration is provided for both published and unpublished works.

To register a copyright, the creator of the work has to file an application with the Copyright office along with a requisite fee. Then follows several steps of scrutiny which includes giving an opportunity for objections to be filed in view of the copyright application.

Powers Of Copyright Board

The copyright board has been constituted to perform judicial functions.
Therefore, the copyright board has been accredited with the powers of civil court for the purpose of Sec. 345 & 346 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. All proceedings of the court are judicial proceedings within the meaning of Sec. 193 & 228 of Indian Penal Code, 1860.

In exercise of the civil court power, the copyright board may issue summons and enforce the attendance of any person and may examine him on oath, requiring the discovery and production of the document, receiving evidence on affidavit issuing commission for the examination of witness and documents and requisitioning public record or copy thereof from any court.

Section 12 of the Copyright Act sets out the powers of the Copyrights Board as follows:

1. The Copyright Board shall, subject to any rules that may be made under this Act, have power to regulate its own procedure, including the fixing of places and times of its sittings. However, the Copyright Board shall ordinarily hear any proceeding instituted before it under this Act within the zone in which, at the time of the institution of the proceeding, the person instituting the proceeding actually and voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain.
    
2. The Copyright Board may exercise and discharge its powers and functions through Benches constituted by the Chairman of the Copyright Board from amongst its members.
    
3. If there is a difference of opinion among the members of the Copyright Board or any Bench thereof in respect of any matter coming before it for decision under this Act, the opinion of the majority shall prevail. In case of no majority, the opinion of the Chairman shall prevail.
    
4. The Chairman may authorise any of its members to exercise any of the powers conferred on it by section 74 (powers of Civil Court) and any order made or act done in exercise of those powers by the member so authorised shall be deemed to be the order or act, as the case maybe, of the Board.
    
5. No member of the Copyright Board shall take part in any proceeding before the Board in respect of any matter in which he has a personal interest.
    
6. No act done or proceeding taken by the Copyright Board under this Act shall be questioned on the ground merely of the existence of any vacancy in, or defect in the constitution of, the Board.
    
7. The Copyright Board shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of sections 345 and 346 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and all proceedings before the Board shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code. As per point No 4 above, the Copyright Board has the powers of a Civil Court.

The Registrar of Copyright and the Copyright Board have the powers of a civil court in respect of the following matters:

1. Summoning & enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath (this jurisdiction extends to the whole of India);
2. Requiring the discovery and production of any document;
3. Receiving evidence on affidavit;
4. Issuing commission for the examination of witnesses and document;
5. Requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office;
6. Any other matter which may be prescribed.

Functions Of The Copyright Board

The main functions of the Copyright Board are as under:

1. Settlement of disputes as to whether copies of any literary, dramatic or artistic work or records are issued to the public in sufficient numbers.
2. Settlement of disputes as to whether the term of copyright for any work is shorter in any other country than that provided for that work under the Act.
3. Settlement of disputes with respect to assignment of copyright as dealt with in Section 19A.
4. Granting of compulsory licences in respect of Indian works withheld from public.
5. Granting of compulsory licence to publish unpublished Indian works.
6. Granting of compulsory licence to produce and publish a translation of literary and dramatic works.
7. Granting of compulsory licence to reproduce and publish literary, scientific or artistic works for certain purposes.
8. Determination of royalties payable to the owner of copyright.
9. Determination of objection lodged by any person as to the fees charged by Performing Rights Societies.
10. Rectification of Register on the application of the Registrar of Copyright or of any person aggrieved.

The Copyright Board has no powers to limit the user of copyright to any particular territorial area. The appeal against orders passed by the Copyright Board except under Section 6 lies to the High Court within whose jurisdiction the appellant resides or carries on business.

The scope of the powers of the Copyright Board has been explained in the case of Shri Urmila Charan Gupta v. Shri Charushila Sharan Gupta and Sumitra Nandand Gupta 1983 PTC 84. In this case it has been held Lesson 8 Copyright 191 that if the Board, in its powers, thinks fit or agrees to dispose of the matter of all the 38 books on a single application, no one else is given the right to question its propriety.

Other than this, another important function of Copyright Board is carried out by the Registrar of Copyright Board. The Registrar maintains a Register of Copyrights containing the names or titles of works and the names and addresses of authors, publishers and owners of copyright and other particulars as may be prescribed.

The Register of Copyright will be kept in six parts as follows:

1. Part I - Literary works other than computer programs, tables and compilations including computer databases and dramatic works.
2. Part II - Musical works
3. Part III - Artistic works
4. Part IV - Cinematograph films
5. Part V - Sound recordings
6. Part VI - Computer programs, tables and compilations including computer databases.

Note: As per Sec. 50A of the Act every entry made in the Register of Copyright should be published in the official gazette or in such manner as the registrar may deem fit.

Registration of Copyright: registration of copyright is not compulsory under sec. 44 of the Act. The registration is neither required for acquiring copyright nor for enforcement. Registration is merely a piece of evidence as to when certain author started claiming copyright in the artistic or other work.

Procedure Of Copyright Board

The copyright board has power to regulate its own procedure, including the fixation of places and times of its sittings. This is subject to the Copyright Rules, 1958. Ordinarily it will hear any proceeding instituted before it within the zone in which the person instituting the proceedings actually and voluntarily resides and carries on business or personally works for gain. For this purpose the territory of India has been divided into five zones - The northern, southern, eastern, western and central zone. Here zone means a zone specified in Sec. 15 of the States Reorganization Act, 1956.

1. The Northern Zone comprises the States of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir, and the Union Territories of Delhi and Chandigarh.
2. The Central Zone comprises the States of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
3. The Eastern Zone comprises of the States of Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, Manipur and Tripura.
4. The Western Zone comprises of the States of Gujarat and Maharashtra, and the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Goa, Daman & Diu.
5. The Southern Zone comprises of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, and the Union Territory of Pondicherry.

Now, the Copyright Board functions in five zones. The Board discharges its functions through the Benches constituted by the Chairman, and the Chairman constitutes benches from amongst its members, each bench consisting of not less than three members. If the matter of dispute is of utmost importance, the Chairman of the Board may constitute a bench consisting of five members. If there is any difference of opinion among the members of the Bench, the opinion of majority shall prevail. If there is no such majority, the opinion of Chairman will prevail.

Reform Of Copyright Board

The Copyright Board during the last decade has changed significantly. Considering the diverse nature of issues being dealt with by the Copyright Board, section 11 relating to the constitution of the Copyright Board has been amended to make it a body consisting of a Chairman and two members which may extend up to 14 members.

A provision has also been introduced for payment of salaries and allowances to the members of the Board.

Latest reform that has come is setup of a permanent copyright board. ―A permanent copyright Board is being set up to provide better services to authors, performers and creators of various works, HRD minister MM Pallam Raju said on Monday, Feb. 18, 2014.

This office will establish a unique identity and will create a distinct relationship with public. And the interactive copyright web portal having facility of e-filing of applications with payment gateway is also going to be the major step in delivering public services in a more efficient and effective manner. E-filing facility for registration of ISBN numbers is going to be operational in the current year and will assist authors and publishers in getting prompt services.

This will eliminate wasteful expenditure and save time and energy on long travels to come to copyright office here to search the copyright register.

Copyright Enforcement Agency Council has also been constituted in year 2013 to enforce provisions under the Act and stop piracy after the major amendments bought to the Copyright Act in 2012.

Overall the amendments introduced are forward looking. This will enable the Copyright Act 1957 to become as one of the best copyright legislations in the world.

Appeal Under Copyright Board

An appeal under the Copyright Act, 1957 lies against (a) certain orders of magistrate & (b) against orders of Registrar of Copyrights and Copyright Board:-

As per Section 71 of the Act any person aggrieved by an order under sub-section (2) of Section 64 or Section 66 may, within thirty days of the date of such order, appeal to the court to which appeals from the court making the order ordinarily lie, and such appellate court may direct that execution of the order be stayed pending disposal of the appeal.

Section 72(1) provides that any person aggrieved by any final decision or order of the Registrar of Copyrights may, within three months from the date of the order or decision, appeal to the Copyright Board.

Any person aggrieved by any final decision or order of the Copyright Board, not being a decision or order made in an appeal under sub-section (1), may, within three months from the date of such decision or order, appeal to the High Court within whose jurisdiction the appellant actually and voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain.

However, no such appeal shall lie against a decision of the Copyright Board under Section 6.

Any person aggrieved by any final decision or order of the Registrar of Copyrights may, within three months from the date of the order or decision, appeal to the Copyright Board and any decision or order of the Board may be appealed to the High Court within 3 months.

However, no appeal lies against the order of the Copyright Board for the determination of issue related to:

1. Whether a work has been published or as to the date on which a work was published for the purposes of term of copyright or
2. whether the term of copyright for any work is shorter in any other country than that provided in respect of that work under this Act, it shall be referred to the Copyright Board constituted under this Act whose decision thereon shall be final.

The jurisdiction of High Court in the appeal is determined by the place where the appellant actually or voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain. Further, in calculating the period of three months provided for an appeal under this section, the time taken in granting a certified copy of the order or record of the decision appealed against shall be excluded.

Case Laws:

1. Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. V. Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd. (2012)

   Facts: The case between Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd. (MBPL) and Super Cassette Industries Limited (SCIL) over the determination of a licence agreement's royalty rate gave rise to the interim orders made by the Copyright Board, which are the subject of this appeal. The appellant had sought the Copyright Board in 2001 to seek redress against the respondent's inflated royalty fee claim. The Board had granted an obligatory licence in favour of the appellant for 661/- per needle hour based on the initial evidence, the balance of convenience, and irreparable damage. The respondent argues that, in accordance with Section 31 of the Copyright Act of 1957, the Copyright Board lacks the express authority to issue such interim decisions and asks for the orders granted by the Copyright Board to be revoked.
   
   Issue: Whether the Copyright Board has the authority to issue temporary orders and determine the royalties for a temporary order in proceedings under Section 31 of the Copyright Act, 1957?
   
   Judgment: The Copyright Board was ordered for the purpose of setting an interim fee, and this Court stated that the Board had the authority to rule on both the interim and final terms of a compulsory licence. Considering the subject matter of the Special Leave Petitions, the Court declined to issue an interim stay of the Copyright Board's order.
    

2. Sumitra Nandan Gupta v. Copyright Board [ILR 1970 Delhi 531]

   Facts: Revision petition filed against an order of the Copyright Board was dismissed ground that the proper remedy of petitioner was appeal under S. 72 of Copyright Act — writ petition about the same matter — not maintainable.
   
   Issue- Is the writ petition about the same matter not maintainable or not?
   
   Judgment - " …a writ petition ought not to have been entertained by the High Court when the respondent had already chosen the remedy under Section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure. If there are two modes of invoking the jurisdiction of the High Court and one of those modes has been chosen and exhausted it would not be a proper and sound exercise of discretion to grant relief in the other set of proceedings in respect of the same order of the Subordinate Court. The refusal to grant relief in such circumstances would be in consonance with the anxiety of the Court to prevent abuse of process as also to respect and accord finality to its own decisions… The petitioner cannot be allowed to by-pass the order of the Allahabad High Court by resort to these writ proceedings…In view of the dismissal of the revision petition by the Allahabad High Court, it would be inappropriate and not a sound exercise of discretion to deal with the matter in the writ petition…"
    

3. Tips Industries v Wynk Music

   Facts: The Indian music label Tips Industries Ltd. (Plaintiff) has the copyright to a sizable music archive, and in 2016 it allowed Wynk Music Ltd. (Defendant) permission to access this archive. Both parties attempted to renegotiate the licensing terms at the licence's expiration but were unsuccessful, thus Wynk sought protection under Section 31D of the Copyright Act. Tips contested Wynk's use of Section 31D and filed a lawsuit against Wynk under Section 14(1)(e) for violating their exclusive sound recording rights.
   
   Issue: Whether the Copyright Act has a legislative licensing scheme for streaming platforms? Judgment: The Bombay High Court reached a decision after hearing the arguments from both parties and concluded that Wynk had engaged in direct violation on two counts: firstly, by making the copyrighted work available under Section 14(1)(e)(ii), which allowed users to download and subscribe to the plaintiff's work offline; and secondly, by making the plaintiff's works available to users via their streaming platform. The decision was made in the plaintiff's direction, and the Court determined that the plaintiff was eligible for an interim injunction since they had presented a strong case and would incur severe financial damage.
    

4. Music Broadcast Limited and Ors. v Tips Industries Ltd

   Facts- Music Broadcast Limited under Section 31(D) of the Copyright Act,1957 and Rule 31 of the Copyright Rules 2013 asking for statutory license and also asking the Tribunal to fix the rate of royalties that are to be provided to the owners of the Copyright for communication of sound recordings to the public using a radio broadcast. The applications regarding the expiration of the license provided by the Copyright board were also filed. The applicant was concerned with the implications as to what would happen if an order of maintenance of status quo was not issued before September 30, 2020, i.e. the date of expiration of licenses.
   
   Issue:
   • Whether the royalties should be fixed differently for sound recordings and underlying works of the sound recording?
   Judgement:
   The Court also held that the contract between the radio broadcasting companies and the music companies will remain in the status quo situation i.e. as the contracts were before the expiration of the license. The IPAB also held that the rate of royalties for the broadcast of sound records through the radio will be the same as fixed by the IPAB in the order dated 8th August 2010.
    

5. Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. V Yahoo Inc. & Anr, C.S. (O.S.) 1124/2008

   Facts: Suit for a perpetual injunction preventing copyright infringement triggered by unlawful streaming of SCIL's copyright works on Yahoo's video streaming platform.
   
   Issue: Yahoo had taken protection under the DMCA, i.e. Digital Millennium Copyright Act stating that they will get rid of infringing material when notified by the owner of the copyright, which is not applicable in India.
   
   Judgment: The court passed a copyright judgement preventing respondent, and its agents, offices and representative from violating, adapting, reproducing, or transmitting in any manner on their portal or other violating in any manner the feature films, musical work, or sound recording of the plaintiff claims copyright, without getting an apt copyright license from the plaintiff.

Recommendations
Though a variety of suggestions were given to make digital exhaustion possible, such as forward-and-delete, resale royalties or file degradation systems, these have proven inadequate in providing a balance between the interests of the user and the rights-holders.

We propose that relevant amendments should be introduced in the Copyright Act that provides the right to transfer legally bought copies online. In order to proceed with this issue, it is suggested that the Registrar conduct consultations and invite suggestions and proposals.

As it is pertinent to state that the Copyright Board has been under judicial scrutiny for some time now and the matter involving the lack of judicial representation contrary to the provisions of the Copyright Act was first brought before the Court.

To that end, we propose an amendment in the Copyright Act that requires all government bodies to make their works available to the public for free use and reuse.

Conclusion
The copyright law is considered as an essential law of protection for a country because it enriches its national cultural heritage of it. However, higher the level of protection given to literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work in any country, automatically higher is the number of intelligent creation, i.e. higher its renown. Thus, in the final analysis, we can say for economic, cultural and social development, it is the basic perquisites.

Copyright protects the expressive content of the work, not the underlying thoughts and ideas. There are still many gaps in the case laws which make the interpretation of copyright law fairly complicated.

The provisions of the abovementioned two enactments show that the Copyright protection in India is strong and effective enough to take care of the Copyright of the concerned person. The protection extends not only to the Copyright as understood in the traditional sense but also in its modern aspect. Thus, on-line copyright issues are also adequately protected, though not in clear and express term.

To meet the ever- increasing challenges, as posed by the changed circumstances and latest technology, the existing law can be so interpreted that all facets of copyright are adequately covered. This can be achieved by applying the purposive interpretatio technique, which requires the existing law to be interpreted in such a manner as justice is done in the fact and circumstances of the case.

Alternatively, existing laws should be amended as per the requirements of the situation. The existing law can also be supplemented with newer ones, specifically touching and dealing with the contemporary issues and problems. Till the country has such a sound and strong legal base for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights, the judiciary should play an active role in the protection of these rights, including the copyright. The situation is, however, not as alarming as it is perceived and the existing legal system can effectively take care of any problems associated with copyright infringement.

Bibliography

1. Intellectual Property Rights Adv. Simran R. Gurnani- 2022
2. Law Relating to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) by MK Bhandari- 2021

Webliography:

• https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/working-copyright-board-india-procedure-litigation-regards-copyright/
• https://lawcirca.com/copyright-office-and-appellate-board-everything-you-need-to-know/
• https://www.taxdose.com/functions-of-the-copyright-board/
• https://www.mondaq.com/india/copyright/618262/copyright-board-merged-with-intellectual-property-appellate-board
• https://www.intepat.com/blog/5-copyright-cases-2019-india/
• https://blog.ipleaders.in/copyright-intellectual-property-rights/
• https://copyright.gov.in/

Statutes Referred:

1. The Copyright Act, 1957