OWNERSHIP OF COPYRIGHT AND RIGHT OF OWNERS (Sections: 17-23, Copyright

Act 2000)

 First Owne r of the Work: (Section 17, Copyright Act 2000)

 The owner of copyright work is the person who creates the work or the author of the work.
 There are some exceptions of this general principle. Such exception are –
 If the author is employed by ne wspaper, magazine under a contract of service, the
proprietor will be the first owner in the absence of an agreement to the contrary in the case of
a literary, dramatic or artistic work.
 Where a photograph is taken or a painting or portrait drawn or a cine matograph film
made for valuable consideration at the instance of a person, such person is the first owner.
 Where any address or speech is delivered in public, the person delivering such address or
speech is the first owner of it but another will be the first owner if it is made on behalf of
him. In case of government work, the government is the first owner.
 In case of a work made or published unde r the direction or the control of any local
authority, such authority is the first owner.
 In case of a work made or published under the direction or the control of any international
organization, such organization is the first owner.
 In case of a computer program, the person or persons or institution appointed for
creating the program, will be the first owner.

 Assignment of copyright (Section 18, Copyright Act 2000)

An assignment is in spirit a transfer of owners hip even if it is partial. It is the voluntary
change of owners hip of the work. Basically, copyright may be assigned to any third party
under subject to the certain restrictions of the Act. It indicates that the owner of the
copyright transfers it to another person or entity, who becomes the owner of the said
copyright. An assignment directs something more than mere subrogation and vests in the
insure r the assured’s inte rest, rights and re medies in respect of the subject matter and
substance of the insurance. In s uch a case, therefore, the insurer by virtue of the transfer or
assignment in his favors will be an apposition to maintain a suit in his own name against
third parties.
The owner of the copyright in an existing work or the prospective owner of the copyright in a
future work may assign to any person the copyright either wholly or partially and either
generally or subject to limitation and either for the whole term of the copyright or any part
thereof:
However, in the case of the assignment of copyright in any future work, the assignment shall
take effect only when the work comes into existence.
Where the assignee of a copyright becomes entitled to any right comprised in the copyright : the
assignee regarding the rights so assigned, shall be treated as owner of the copyright.
And the assignor regarding the rights not assigned, shall be treated as owner of the copyright.

In order to assign a copyright the certain manner must be followed. The mode of assignment is in
the following ways:
1) It shall be in writing signed by the assignor or by his duly authorized agent.
2) It shall identify the specific works and specify the rights assigned and the duration and
territorial extent of such assignment.
3) It shall also specify the amount of royalty payable, if any, to the author or his legal heirs
during the existence of the assignment.
4) The assignment shall be subject to revision, extension or termination based on terms mutually
agreed upon by the parties.
5) Where the assignee does not exercise the rights assigned to him within a period of one year
from the date of assignment, the assignment in respect of such rights shall be deemed to have
lapsed after the expiry of the said period unless otherwise specified in the assignment.
6) If the period of assignment is not stated, the duration of the assignment shall be deemed to be
five years from the date of assignment.
7) If the territorial extent of the assignment is not specified, it shall be presumed to be extended
to the whole of Bangladesh.
However, the author of a work may relinquish all or any of the rights comprising the copyright in
the work by giving notice in the prescribed form to the Registrar of Copyrights. As per section
20 of the 2000 Act, the Copyright Board is authorized to deal with any dispute regarding the
assignment of copyright where the procedure also been prescribed. In this case, the aggrieved
assignor must make a complaint and on satisfaction, the Board may pass an order of revocation
of assignment but not before the expiry of five years from the date of such ass ignment.
 Disputes with respect to the assignment of copyright.- (Section 20, Copyright Act 2000)
If an appointed assignee fails to make exercise of the rights transferred to him, and such
failure is not attributable to any act or omission of the assignor, then, the Board may, on
receipt of a complaint from the assignor and after holding such inquiry as it may deem necessary,
revoke such assignment.
If any dispute arises with regarding the assignment of any copyright, the Board may, on receipt
of a complaint from the aggrieved party and after holding such inquiry as it may deem necessary,
pass such an order as it thinks fit including an order for the recovery of any royalty payable:
Provided that the Board shall not pass any order under this sub-section to revoke the
appointe d assignment unless it is satisfied that the terms of assignment are harsh to the
assignor, in case the assignor is also the author:
But, no order of revocation of assignment under this sub-section shall be made within a period of
five years from the date of such assignment.

 Right of owner to relinquish copyright.- (Section 22, Copyright Act 2000)

The author of a work may relinquish all or any of the rights comprised in the copyright in the
work by giving notice in the prescribed form to the Registrar and thereupon such rights shall,
cease to exist from the date of the notice.
On receipt of a notice, the Registrar shall publish it in the official Gazette in such manner as
he may deem fit.
The relinquishment of all or any of the rights comprised in the copyright in a work shall not
affect any rights subsisting in favour of any person on the date of the notice.