POST- MID ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC- INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT

SUBMITTED BY – KHUSHI SINGH

ENROLLEMENT ID – 20FLICDDN02082
BATCH – B.A.LL.B (H) 2020-25
SECTION – B

SUBMITTED TO – Dr. Shalini Singh Tomar

Assistant Professor
 INDEX

Page No.

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………...3

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT……………………………………………….3

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT INFRINEGEMENT………………………..4-5

COPYRIGHT ISSUES…………………………………………………5

OWNERSHIP OF COPYRIGHT………………………………..…….5-6

TYPES OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT…………………………6-7

REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT………...……7-8

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………..8
 INTRODUCTION
People have faced several threats since the internet's invention. Infringement of copyright is
one of them. The submission of research papers, where researchers frequently use different
sources to produce their work, is a well-known example of such alteration. People can have
access to millions of websites with just a click and post something on social media networks
by altering someone else's original work. Unauthorized copies of someone else's original
work are frequently made. Can the owner of the copyright file a lawsuit for copyright
infringement? What privileges does a copyright holder have? What options are there for legal
action against the copyright holder?

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?

Copyright refers to the collection of rights that are automatically vested on the creator of the
original work of authorship such as a literary work, music, movies or software. The copyright
holder i.e. the creator of the original work has the right over his work, he can transfer his
rights to others or keep full control over his work by not giving the right to anyone to copy or
produce his work. The goal of copyright is to promote the progress of useful arts and science
by protecting the exclusive rights of the creators; To provide incentive and reward to the
creators for producing original content; The creators can be economically benefited by their
copyrighted work and receive proper recognition; To encourage the creators to come up with
creative ideas. Copyright has been defined in Section 14 of the Copyright Act, 1957 as an
exclusive right to do or authorise the doing of any of the following acts in relation of a work
or any significant part thereof, namely:

 Every kind of reproduction is permitted, including saving the work in any format.
 Publicize the work and distribute copies of it.
 Execute the Task in Public
 create any cinematic production in homage to the work
 Create an adaption of the work by translating it.

Example of Copyright

 When a book gets published, the author gets its copyright.

 After a film is produced, the creators get the copyright.
 WHAT IS COPYRIGHT INFRINEGEMENT?

Unauthorized use of a work protected by copyright is referred to as copyright infringement.

Hence, it is the unauthorised use of someone else's copyrighted work that violates the owner's
rights, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, exhibit, or perform the protected work.

When a copyright is violated is specified in Section 51 of the Copyright Act. Section 51 of

the Act states that a copyright violation occurs if:

 A person without obtaining the permission of the copyright holder does any act which
only the copyright holder is authorised to do.
 A person permits the place to be used for communication, selling, distribution or
exhibition of an infringing work unless he was not aware or has no reason to believe
that such permission will result in the violation of copyright.
 A person imports infringing copies of a work
 A person without obtaining the authority from the copyright holder reproduces his
work in any form.

Example of Copyright Infringement

 If a person downloads movies or songs from an unauthorised source.

 A person is free to record a TV program to view it later, but if he transfers or
distributes it to others then it becomes a copyright infringement.

Elements necessary for infringement

 The work should be the original creation of the author.

 The defendant actually copied the work of the author.

In the case of Hawkins Cooker Ltd. vs Magicook Appliances, Hawkins Cooker Ltd sued
Magicook Appliances on the grounds of illicitly using their label registered under the
Copyright Act, 1957, which they used on their renowned pressure cooker line.  The court
deterred Magicook Appliances from using the Hawkins Cooker Ltd cookbooks. It ordered
Magicook Appliances to deliver damages to Hawkins Cooker Ltd Company for all alleged
books, products, and articles employed by them in manufacturing the offending goods.
In another case of Super Cassettes Industries Limited vs YouTube and Google, Super
Cassettes Industries Limited (SCIL) claimed that the YouTube business model makes a
substantial profit from using the copyrighted work uploaded without approval from the
copyright owners and without paying a royalty for the same. The court opined that YouTube,
the video streaming giant and Google should stop distributing; reproducing, displaying or
transmitting on their portal any audio-visual works in the exclusive ownership of the SCIL.  

COPYRIGHT ISSUES

There are a number of issues that can arise in Copyright such as, Plagiarism, Ownership and
Derivative Works.

Plagiarism: Someone may copy the copyrighted material and pretend it to be his original
work. People are allowed to quote the work or refer the work but the person who is using the
copyrighted work has to give the credit to the copyright holder.

Ownership: The issue of ownership may arise when an employer works for an organisation.
In such case who has the copyright over the work? If a person is an employer then it is the
organisation which has the copyright over the material but if a person is a freelance writer
then it is the person himself who is the sole owner of the copyrighted material.

Derivative: Derivative works use the already existing work of someone. It is a new version
of already existing material. Example, translating a book into another language. A person
requires a license for it but if he has not obtained the license for it then he can be made liable
for copyright infringement.

OWNERSHIP OF COPYRIGHT

Copyright is a sui generis right. It is considered a natural right as it is automatically granted to

the creator of original, literary, musical, dramatic work and sound recordings. In the case of
R.G. Anand it was held that registration of works is not mandatory for availing the copyright
protection. In another case of Sunil Agarwal v. Kumkumb Tandon, it was held that sec. 18
confers ownership of rights in copyright on the assignment. Generally the creator or author of
the work is the owner of the work and entitled to get the copyright. As per sec. 17 the author
of a work shall be the first owner of the copyright. In case of a dramatic, literate or artistic
work, the owner of such shall be the first owner of copyright. In case of a photograph,
painting, engraving, cinematograph films, the person causing such a work shall become the
first owner of copyright. In case when a work is made by a person during his course of
employment then the employer shall be the first owner. If a person is delivering speech in
public on behalf of another then the person on whose behalf it is given shall be the first
owner. If a work is created on being tendered by the govt., the govt. shall be the first owner
of copyright.

TYPES OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Copyright infringement can be broadly classified into two categories, Primary Infringement
and Secondary Infringement.

Primary Infringement

Primary infringement refers to the actual act of duplicating the owner's work. Using
photocopies of books to distribute them commercially is one example. Nonetheless,
occasionally a person may merely duplicate a little portion of the work, for instance, a
sentence from an article. The copyright holder in such a situation must prove two things:
Substantial Taking and Casual Connection.

Substantial Taking refers to when a copyright is infringed only when an unauthorized

person copies a substantial part of the work. Example, copying a catchy phrase of a lyricist.
While deciding the case, the court also tries to conceive, how an ordinary person will
perceive the work. If an ordinary person will perceive that the work is copied from a different
source then it will be considered infringement. If the writing style, language and errors are
similar to the copyrighted work then it will serve as evidence of copying in a court of law.
The minor alterations made by the person in the work of a copyright holder will not affect the
claim of infringement.

Casual Connection means that the copyright holder must prove that there is a similarity in
the works of the copyright holder and the infringer. However, this may be because of several
other reasons like both of them have used the same source for the research. In such a case, the
copyright holder cannot claim for infringement.
Secondary Infringement

Secondary Infringement refers to the infringement of copyright work without actually

copying it. This can happen in the following ways:

Providing a place for Copyright Infringement: If someone offers a location or allows it to

be used (for profit) for conveying a work to the public and that communication constitutes
copyright infringement, that person may be held accountable for the crime of copyright
imprisonment. Nonetheless, the individual cannot be held accountable for copyright
infringement if they are ignorant of it or have no reason to suspect it is taking place. It is
significant to remember that the person should permit the location to be held accountable for
copyright infringement for "profit." If an Organization rents out the space, the NGO cannot
be held accountable for the situation.

Selling Infringing Copies: If a person sells the copies that infringe the right of the copyright
holder then it will amount to copyright infringement.

Distributing Infringing Copies: Copyright infringement occurs when someone disseminates

illegal copies of works that have a copyright holder. An example of a copyright violation is
when someone freely uploads a movie to the internet.

Importing Infringing Copies: A copyright violation also occurs when an Indian copyright
holder imports their infringed work. Nonetheless, copyright infringement will not have
occurred if the offender imported the infringing work for domestic or personal use.

REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT

Under the Copyright Act, 1957 the copyright holder has two types of remedies, civil remedies
and Criminal remedies.

Civil Remedy:
According to Section 55(1) of the Copyright Act, the copyright holder is entitled to an
injunction as a form of relief. The most effective remedy in cases of copyright infringement is
an injunction. An injunction is the legal procedure used to prevent someone from acting in a
way that violates their legal rights or to require them to return the situation to as it was before
the action. Additionally, it states that the owner of the copyright is entitled to compensation
in the event that it is violated. The amount of the damages is often equal to what the
copyright holder would have received if the person had bought the licence directly from him.
However, there are various other factors as well, that determines the amount of damages like
the loss of profit to the copyright holder, loss of reputation, decrease in the sale of the
copyright holder’s work etc.

Criminal Remedy:

The owner of the copyright may pursue criminal charges against the violator. The criminal
remedy is not a substitute for the civil remedy; rather, it is an addition to it. So, the owner of
the copyright may initiate both civil and criminal proceedings at the same time. According to
Section 63 of the Copyright Act, copyright infringement is a crime.

CONCLUSION

The protection of the creator's rights and the provision of financial incentives are the two
main goals of copyright. The purview of copyright encompasses all literary or creative works,
including computer software and databases. Although it is not essential to register a work in
order to qualify for copyright protection, doing so is frequently encouraged because it can be
used as evidence in court. A person who violates the copyright of another person's work is
subject to both criminal and civil penalties. Nonetheless, there are several exceptions to
copyright infringement, meaning that in some circumstances, a person may not need the
copyright holder's consent to utilise his work. However, it is always advised to produce the
original work and not to use someone’s copyrighted work without permission.