Explain the meaning, scope, characteristics and objective of Copyright Act, 1957.
Answers
Like patents, copyrights also protect the creative endeavor of an owner. But, they pertain to intellectual property. In simple words, copyright protects original works of ownership. It gives an exclusive right to do or authorize others to do certain acts in relation to literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, cinematography and sound recordings.
A copyright protects the intellectual property, for the life of the originator plus 50 years. In case of cinematographic work, the period of protection is 50 years after the work has been made available to the public and for photographic works 25 years after the making of the work.
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India passed Copyright Act in 1957 and consequent upon India signing GATT and later WTO and entering the global market economy, a number of changes have been made in the Copyright Act of 1957 mainly in 1994 and 2002.
Copyright cannot be granted for all types of original works.
Following are the examples:
(i) There is no copyright for idea. Copyright subsists only in the material form in which the ideas expressed.
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(ii) It is not an infringement of copyright to use the idea or concept of another in a different manner.
(iii) There is also no copyright in live events. For example, no license is required to transmit the programmes of sporting events and news events.
Objectives:
The Indian Copyright Act, 1957 is enacted with the following two main objectives:
1. Encouragement to the Original Work:
The main objective of the Copyright Act is to encourage authors, composers, artists, and designers to create original works by rewarding them with the exclusive right for a limited period (usually for the life of the originator plus 50 years) to exploit the work for monetary gain.
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The economic exploitation is done by licensing such exclusive rights to the entrepreneurs like publishers, film producers and record manufacturers for a monetary consideration. In reality, people who economically exploit the copyright are the greater beneficiaries of the copyright law than the creators of works of copyright. The publishers and authors of books are such examples.
2. Protection to the Originator:
The objective of copyright law is also, in essence, to protect the author or the creator of the original work from the unauthorized reproduction or exploitation of his/her materials. The right also extends to prevent others from exercising without authority any other form of right attached to copyright, for example, in case of literary work, the right of translation, adaptation or abridgement.
In the recent times, with the rapid advance of technology, copyright infringement in the form of ‘piracy’ has become a serious problem of international in character. This is because the technological progress has made reproduction of copyright material easy and cheap.
As a consequence, cassettes sales of pirate recordings in 1997 were estimated at 174 million units with a value of some 83 million dollars, making India the World’s third largest piracy market in volume and sixth in value. Sales through piracy in India account for nearly 30% of total unit sales which was as high as 80% during the eighties. Piracy of compact discs is also becoming a serious problem in India.
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Owning to the international character of copyright, various countries have joined to form conventions for the protection of copyrights owned by its nationals in other countries. The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literacy and Artistic Works is the result of such joint effort. India is a member of two of such conventions.
Accordingly, the Indian copyright owners can protect their copyright in almost in any country in the world. The appropriate actions taken under the Copyright Act 1957 can stop infringement of copyright. Infringement of copyright is also an offence punishable with imprisonment and fine.
Answer:
The answer to the question is-
Explanation:
Copyright Act, 1957
The Copyright Act, 1957 protects musical ,original literary, dramatic, and artistic works and cinematograph films and sound recordings from unauthorized uses. Copyright protects the expressions and not the ideas. There is no copyright in an idea
Meaning of Copyright Act
- Copyright law protects creators of original material from duplication or use which is unauthorized .
- original work has to be in tangible form so, that it is to be protected by copyright laws
- for example-In the U.S., the work of creators is protected by copyright laws until 70 years after their death.
Scope of Copyright Act
Copyright protects the expressions and not the ideas.The Copyright Act, 1957 protected- original literary, and artistic works and cinematograph films and sound recordings from unauthorized uses.
Characteristics of Copyright Act
Copyright gives the complete right to the owner to produce/reproduce the any piece of their original work.
Copyright restricts unauthorized use of any sort of work
Objective of Copyright Act
The primary objective of copyright is through the provision of property rights -
- to induce and reward authors,
- to create new works and
- to make those works available to the public to enjoy.