Introduction

Copyright protection across the world has become more difficult in recent years due to
technological advances that make content sharing extremely easy and inexpensive, and due to
a drastic increase in the utilization of Internet-related platforms such as social media.
Copyright laws protect original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible medium of
expression. The basic elements are: expression, and originality. A Multimedia author, who
makes an unauthorized copy of someone else's work, or portion of someone else's work, is
probably violating the copyright owner's rights. Works of authorship include literary works
(including computer programs); musical works; pictorial and graphic works; motion pictures
and other audio-visual works; and sound recordings.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized United Nations agency
formed to protect intellectual property worldwide. Intellectual property consists of industrial
property (trademarks, inventions) and copyrighted works. WIPO attempts to enforce
copyright laws by cooperation between countries. More than 170 countries are currently
members of WIPO.1

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.

With the advent of the digital environment, the access, use, duplication or modification of the
original work has become really easy. Digital environment has created a platform for people
for widespread cost effective distribution of the original works, posing serious threats to the
interest of the creator.

Threats posed by the digital environment to the copyrighted work are way too different from
that in the normal course of physical world. To counter these threats innumerable techniques
have been developed to make digital works difficult to copy, distribute and access without
necessary permission.

1
www.wipo.int/ipadvantage/en/details.jsp

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 Evolution of the topic

Copyright in digital age have evolved from case to case in the ongoing years. Some of
those cases are:

Sega Enterprises Ltd. vs. MAPHIA – In this case, the courts decided in favour of Sega
Enterprises, which brought suit against MAPHIA, an electronic bulletin board system
(BBS). Sega Enterprises claimed that MAPHIA copied a game to its BBS and made it
available for user downloads. The court found that MAPHIA sometimes charged users a
direct fee for downloading privileges, or bartered for the privilege of downloading the
Sega game.2 Because Sega's game was protected by copyright, MAPHIA violated Sega's
copyright by obtaining unauthorized copies of Sega's games and placing them on storage
media of the BBS to be downloaded by unknown users.

Playboy Enterprises vs. Frena - In this case, Playboy brought a lawsuit against the
defendant George Frena, an independent BBS operator. Playboy claimed that Frena
distributed unauthorized copies of Playboy's copyright-protected photographs from his
BBS. Frena's BBS was available by fee to anyone. Frena admitted that he did not obtain
authorization from Playboy to copy or distribute the photographs. 3 The courts found
evidence of direct copyright infringement, and stated that the fact that Frena may not have
known of the copyright infringement was irrelevant.

Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) vs. Napster - This copyright

infringement case was filed by the RIAA to contest the distribution of copyrighted music
files over the Internet using a popular program called Napster. This program allows user
who have installed the Napster software on their computers to share MP3 music files with
other users who have the Napster software. There is no cost for copying files form on
user's computer to another. The RIAA wants artists and record companies to receive
royalty payments for users who swap these copyrighted files. Napster has worked with
Bertlesmann, the corporation that owns BMG Music, to develop a subscription service that
will allow users to share copyrighted MP3 files while observing permission agreement.
This arrangement will allow artist and record companies to receive payment for their
copyrighted music.4

2
https://h2o.law.harvard.edu/cases
3
https://www.quimbee.com/cases/playboy-enterprises-inc-v-frena
4
www.bu.edu/law/journals-archive/scitech/volume71

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 Hogwarts Castle at Center of Indian Festival Lawsuit- Organizers of a religious event
in the city of Kolkata, in eastern India, were shocked to learn that J.K. Rowling-author of
the wildly popular Harry Potter books-was planning a lawsuit against them because they
had constructed a replica of the fictional Hogwarts Castle for the event.
J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury, her publisher, decided to sue the organizers of the event
for two million rupees, or $50,000, because they had constructed an elaborate castle using
canvas, bamboo and paper mache for the Durga Puja festival in Kolkata, The High Court
in Delhi ordered the builders of the castle to court to present their case.5
Rowling’s lawsuit, not unlike her Harry Potter books, was very wordy. It was almost 394
pages long and argued that the festival organizers would exploit the castle replica to earn
money through advertising. Rowling’s lawsuit demanded that the organizers of the Hindu
festival not be allowed to have their event in the giant castle they constructed, unless they
paid the $50,000 to Rowling and her publisher first.
When the High Court in Delhi heard arguments in the case they decided to dismiss
Rowling’s lawsuit. They also ordered the organizers of the festival to not use any
characters from Rowling’s books after the annual event without her permission. Since it’s
unlikely that they would have anyway, this seems like a full win in court for the Hindu
festival organizers.
Judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul ruled that permission to use the castle would expire on October
26, after the conclusion of the festival. He rejected J.K. Rowling’s demand for payment
for copyright infringement but said, “Any further use of these characters will be subject to
the prior permission of the author of the Harry Potter series.”

5
https://www.sott.net/article/141563-Rowling-sues-Hogwarts-Castle-replica-in-India

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 Indian perspective

Copyright is a bit tricky in Multimedia as it involves compilation of different other

copyrighted work. The Copyright Act, 1957 protects copyright of various owners under
section 14. Although in the Act, there is no clear definition of ‘compilation’, though, it can be
explained as a process of assembling various work such as data, or a collection of literary or
musical works and cinematographic work from various authors. Under section 2 (0) the
compilations are protected under copyright as literary work.

Multimedia that we routinely engage with is basically a computer based interactive

communication processes that include a combination of text, software, graphics, pictures,
images, drawings, audio, animation, videos, etc. Multimedia elements are generally found to
be embedded in web pages and there are various web browsers that supports multimedia
formats. Multimedia applications include WWW, Adobe, Interactive TV, Computer games
etc. It is a compilation of pre- existing or commissioned work or other data and uses a variety
of artistic and communicative media.6

Under Indian copyright law, different elements of multimedia work can be protected as
literary, Artistic, Cinematographic, Sound and Musical work. Text of a multimedia program
will be covered under Literary work, computer software under computer programs, still
images, pictures, drawings under artistic work, animation and video under cinematographic
film, audio under sound and musical work. The author of the multimedia work has to take
permission to use a previously copyrighted work.

The original work in a multimedia will be protected in the name of different owners/authors
in separate category. For Example when the musical work is originally written by a lyricist,
further originally composed by a composer and sung by a singer, then the lyricist, composer
and singer all will have individual rights over the work and the owners of all three categories
of work will be protected separately under Copyright law, this might become a problem for
the Developer of a multimedia as taking permission/license from each of the owner in a song
will be burdensome, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary. However, in case of pre
-existing work, the developers or creators will have to take prior permission from the owner
to use data, images, computer program, audio, visual recordings, animation and the like

6
https://www.intepat.com/blog/copyright/emerging-trends-digital-copyright-law-india

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incorporated in multimedia. Otherwise, the non – authorized work will be considered as the
violation of copyrights of the owner.

Copyright protection subsist in a multimedia is for different terms, depending on different

categories of works which has been used in its compilation.  For text and computer software,
the term of copyright protection is Life time of the author + 60 years’ period counted from
the year following the death of the author, for pictures, images, animation, video and audio
the term is 60 years’ period that is counted from the date of publication i.e. the date when the
work came into existence.7

Digital media with various latest technologies have made easiest access to the copyrighted
content and the convenient access results in violation of copyright. Hence it becomes difficult
for the copyright owners to protect their rights. It becomes even more difficult in multimedia
work because there are a number of aspects that can be protected under copyright. Therefore,
to reduce the risk, Digital Right Management (DRM) is being used to protect the copyright in
a digital environment. DRM schemes are various access control technologies, which enables
authorized access to digital contents and restrict unauthorized duplication, modification of
Copyrighted work such software, music, videos and movies. DRM technologies are quite
helpful in protecting the copyright.

Digital Right Management

Digital Rights Management is a term that is used to describe the processes by which the
author or publisher of a work exerts his rights to control what the purchaser of his work is
entitled to do.

DRM represents the controls by which you can prevent someone from copying or printing or
editing or otherwise making available your privileged information to other people.

Traditionally, in the print industry, the author (or publisher) of a book asserted their right to
be able to control what the purchaser could (or could not) do when they had purchased the
work.

7
adage.com/article/digitalnext/debate-copyright-digital-age-continues

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DRM is an approach that lets authors and publishers exert more appropriate rights over
digital (or dematerialized) than they were able to in the physical print era.8 It includes
techniques which have been developed to control duplication, modification and distribution
of original works.9 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. Some
of the DRM techniques are as follows:

1. Access Control and Copy Control:

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.
2. 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.
3. Digital Watermarks:
Digital Watermarks are the best techniques that help authors to trace the source of a
work and any unauthorised 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 unauthorised copying or use can be traced.

8
https://www.locklizard.com/digital-rights-management
9
https://www.encoding.com/digital-rights-management-drm

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 Special features are embedded into the content that are not visible as such, but which
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.

4. Auto-updates:

The documents can be kept (based on the option at the time of sharing) in sync such
that they are auto-updated whenever the sender makes changes.

5. Complete file tracking:

File usage is completely tracked such that an audit trail of activities — including
opening, sharing, and viewing, editing, forwarding and printing is maintained at the
level of the file, individual user and location.

6. Secure online document viewer:

The viewing of shared documents by third parties can be restricted to read-only access
through a secure web-based online document viewer, with full IT control on printing,
copy/paste and screenshots.

7. Revocation rights:

At any time, IT can remotely revoke the permissions/rights for accessing the shared
documents, even after a recipient downloads the files on his or her own device.

8. Password requirements:

Passwords can be mandated for all sharing through predefined corporate policy. The
document owner can also enforce the password. The recipient will be required to
authenticate at the time of opening and/or downloading, as well as after the documents
have been downloaded, ensuring that the documents are usable only by authorized
users.

9. Content protection on mobile devices:

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 Based on the mobile content management (MCM) policy, the documents shared within
the organization can be restricted to view-only access on mobile devices (iOS and
Android) or restricted to controlled editing using a built-in editor for Microsoft Office
and PDF annotation by controlling copying/pasting, printing and moving to other
mobile apps.

Benefits of DRM

1. Ensure corporate data is secure and manageable anywhere it goes (not just inside the
corporate network)

2. Control enterprise files after they’ve been sent out, e.g., triggering a file shared a
month ago to expire

3. Improve internal and external compliance and policy adherence

4. Don’t sacrifice security for ease-of-use

5. Keep data secure in the event of an accidental internal leakage

Legal Provisions Related to Digital Rights Management

With the advent of digital technologies a serious threat had emerged in order to cope up with
the infringement of copyright, copyright infringement becomes rampant in the era of
digitisation and such the need to control and regulate digital piracy and copyright
infringement emerged in law. The advantage of digital copies as compared to analog copies
of the copyrighted work, are more identical, easy to copy, and faster copying are the major
factors which boosted the infringement of copyrights over the virtual world. With the
emergence of this problem WIPO comes up with the regulation related to digital copying in
1996 with two Internet treaties, WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performers
and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) to cope up with the challenge of digital copying.

Article 11of WIPO Copyright Treaty and Article 18 of WIPO Performers and Phonograms
Treaty obliges parties to have ‘adequate and effective’ legal remedies to prevent the
circumvention against applied effective technological protection measures, similarly Article
12 of WIPO Copyright Treaty and Article 19 of WIPO Performers and Phonograms Treaty
provides for contracting parties to have adequate and effective legal remedies against the

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unauthorised tampering of rights management information which is provided by the owner
and also dealing knowingly with the copies of tampered rights management information.10

India though not being a party to these treaties provides for similar protection to the
copyrighted works by virtue of section 65A and 65B of Indian copyright Act 1957,these two
new provisions facilitated the entry of WIPO internet treaties into copyright system. Section
65A deals with the protection of technological measures and 65B deals with tempering of
rights management information.

According to section 65(A) the first clause deals with providing penal measures to those who
circumvent the applied effective technological measure to use any right conferred by the
copyright law by the owner and they do so intentionally will be penalised with imprisonment
for 2 years and Fine.

Second clause enumerates a long list of exceptions for which the provisions of first clause
will not be applicable. It mentions that any person tampering with the Technological
protection measure applied for purpose not expressly prohibited under the act will not attract
penalties this provision also applies to third parties who facilitates the circumvention, but
they have to maintain the record of persons and the purpose for which the circumvention is
facilitated. Apart from all this exemptions this provisions also expressly exempts certain
activities for which circumvention can be allowed that is encryption research, lawful
investigation, security testing of a computer system or a computer network with the
authorization of its owner or operator, protection of privacy, and measures necessary in the
interest of national security .

some of the implications which are very much clear from the legislated provisions of
circumvention can be, first, the legislative intent of having a high bar in order to invoke the
provisions of the section is the intention clause which is mandatory to invoke the provisions
of the section. Secondly, it expressly limits the orbit of the section to those activities which
are not allowed by the copyright law, i.e. all those activities for which the copyright law does
not prohibit the copying can be done by even tapering with technological protection
measures. And lastly allowing circumvention with the help of third parties, provided certain
requirements are to be met, was a significant step towards the liberalising of the Digital
Rights Management application in Indian law.
10
copyright.lawmatters.in/2010/06/drm-and-other-implications-of-copyright.html

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Section 65(B) of the copyright act provide for penalty to any person who knowingly removes
or alters the Rights Management information from the digital content or sells and distributes
the content knowing that the rights management information is tampered or removed shall be
penalise with 2 years of imprisonment and fine, this section also provides for availing civil
remedies along with the criminal penalties prescribed.

This provision is more rigid as compared to the provision of technological protection

measures because it do not provide for any exception in the law for tampering or altering with
Rights Management Information and also availing civil remedies along with criminal
remedies shows a stricter approach.

CONCLUSION

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Many techniques have been developed to protect the original work like digital watermarking,
access and copy controls etc. However, despite the fact that these techniques have been
incorporated in the legislations, regulation and protection of original works in the digital
environment remains a goal that is yet to be achieved. It is very important that ideas should
be available to the general public so that the flow of creativity must not be blocked. However
creators and authors must always be incentivized for their efforts. Hence the interest of both
must be kept in mind while enacting and implementing DRM techniques.

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.

Many countries have given protection to computer databases, computer software/program

and internet by amending their copyright laws. But there are many countries which have yet
to amend their copyright laws for the protection of computers databases, computer
software/program and internet. The owners of computer software, databases and internet,
have been provided the general rights which are possessed by the owners of copyrighted
literary works, artistic works, dramatic works, cinematograph films etc. The characteristic of
the Internet has out-performed the law, thus the question arises whether Copyright is shaken
by the advancement of technology and that it is significant in the digital era. Undoubtedly,
the current Copyright laws do provide protection to Copyright owners but it has some
drawbacks. Some doubts have been raised on the effectiveness of Copyright protection being
enforced onto people. The borderless nature of Internet, calls for a more encouraging
relationship in other jurisdiction and close cooperation with the international organizations.
The society must be educated on the necessity of Copyright protection to prevent any
unauthorized use.

VIACOM V. YOUTUBE

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