~ 14 PART - II THE COPYRIGHT ACT, 1957 1. ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERISTICS OF COPYRIGHT (MOST IMPORTANT) SYNOPSIS: A. Introduction B. Copyright and Intellectual property C. Origin of copyright D.. Nature of copyright E. Object of copyright F. Characteristics of copyright G. Conclusion A. INTRODUCTION: ‘Copyright’, in simple terms, means the exclusive right to copy or reproduce the work for which the author has got the Copyright. It is the right to do or authorizing others to do certain acts in literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, cinema film and sound recording. Copyright is the product of human skill and his mental capacity of some creative work,15 B. COPY RIGHT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: Copy right is a form of Intellectual property. Intellectual property means ‘a property created by human brain’. The subject matter of intellectual property includes patents, copyrights of literary and artistic works, films, computer programs, inventions, designs, trade marks, know-how, confidential information, etc. The intellectual property can be sold, mortgaged, leased, etc., like any other property from one perso~ another. The law relating to Intellectual property governs the legal rights associated with creative works and commercial reputation and goodwill. Intellectual property creates rights and duties. The object behind intellectual property is that a person who creates a work or has a good idea and when he develops that idea, he a moral and legal right to control its use and exploitation and he must be able to prevent others from taking unfair advantage of his efforts. Further remedies must be provided to the author/ inventor to protect his ideas and to prevent infringement of the same by others. When a persén produces or creates something, he must have the right to use it exclusively and reap the benefits from it.16 Law gives such right and if any other person/s un-authorisedly uses such right and derives benefits, then such act is considered as violation of the rights of the copyright holder. Copyright is one of the most important intellectual properties and hence must be studied thoroughly and at length. C. ORIGIN OF COPYRIGHT: Copyright has it’s origin in the beginning of 20" century, after printing technology was invented and the literacy rate started growing among people. In ancient days, when Bhaghawat Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Thirukkural etc., were written, there was no copyright laws and these great master pieces were largely used by the majority of the people for common good. There are many international conventions in copyrights like Berne Convention, 1886, Universal Copyright Convention, 1940, Inter American Copyright Conventions, 1889, 1902, 1907, 1910, 1928 and 1946, WIPO Copyright Treaty, WIPO performances and Phonograms Treaty, 1996, etc. which emphasized the need for enacting Copyright laws to protect the authors/creators of ideas and to, recognize their rights to use and monetarily gain by such use.