A PROJECT

On
PROTECTION OF IPR IN DIGITAL WORLD

Subject Name: CYBER LAW

Supervised by: Submitted by:

Ms Raveena Khuteta Himakshi Shekhawat

Faculty of Cyber Law Semester- X, Sec- A

S.S. Jain Subodh Law College

Mansarovar, Jaipur

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 2023

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled “PROTECTION OF IPR IN DIGITAL WORLD”
is submitted by me in partial fulfilment of the requirements for award of the degree of
B.A.LL.B from S.S. Jain Subodh Law College, Mansarovar, Jaipur. It is a result of my own
work and efforts. Any material used or scripted herein by any other
author/researcher/commentator and used hereinafter has been thoroughly acknowledged. The
present work has not been accepted for any degree, and is also not being currently submitted
for any other degree.

Himakshi Shekhawat

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project assignment of labour law entitled “PROTECTION OF IPR
IN DIGITAL WORLD” submitted by Himakshi Shekhawat of X Semester Sec-A for the
partial fulfilment for requirement for degree of B.A.LL.B from S.S. JAIN SUBODH LAW
COLLEGE, Jaipur embodies the unified work done under the supervision of Ms Raveena
Khuteta.

Date: Signature:

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 ACKNOWLEGDEMENT

A research work of such great scope and precision could never have been possible without
great co-operation from all sides. Contributions of various people have resulted in this effort.
Firstly, I would like to thank God for the knowledge he has bestowed upon me.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ms Raveena Khuteta without whose
valuable support and guidance, this project would have been impossible. I would like to thank
the library staff for having put up with my persistent queries and having helped me out with
the voluminous materials needed for this work. I would also like to thank my seniors for
having guided me and culminate this acknowledgement by thanking my friends for having
kept the flame of competition burning, which spurred me on through these days.
And finally, my parents, who have been a support to me throughout my life and has helped
me, guided me to perform my best in all interests of my life, and all my elders who have
always inculcated the best of their qualities in me.

Himakshi Shekhawat

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The methodology used in this project is doctrinal includes accessing reference books and
other relevant sources from library and using secondary sources as well. The secondary
sources used in this project include the library of, S.S. Jain Subodh Law College,
Mansarovar, Jaipur and other sources from the internet. On the basis of the knowledge gained
from all of the above-mentioned sources a self-analysis of the topic under the study has been
presented in the project. All sources referred to have been given due recognition. The
dimensions of this research include studying of the judgment of the case under the study and
also other cases which relied upon the judgment.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................7

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.................................................................................................8

EFFECT OF DIGITAL WORLD ON IPRs...............................................................................9

DIGITAL RIGHT MANAGEMENT.......................................................................................11

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................14

BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................15

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 INTRODUCTION

Intellectual property refers to the ownership of intangible goods. This includes ideas, designs,
symbols, writings and creations. It also refers to digital media such as audio and video clips
that can be downloaded online. Since intellectual property is intangible, if it is stolen, it may
be difficult to recover. Say for example, a person comes up with a great idea for a new
invention. Copyright originated in an age where the expression of the intellectual product in
physical form, such as a book. Today, in the information age where digital information can be
easily copied at minimal cost this natural physical limitation to unauthorized copying is
removed. It is therefore time to reconsider the principle of the copyright model. The purpose
of copyright law is to balance the rights of copyright holders and users. Existing copyright
law is applicable in the digital age also. As more and more information becomes available in
digital format, libraries must ensure that public can enjoy the same access rights as with
printed information. This paper deals with scope and coverage of various concepts connected
with IPR, such as intellectual product, patents, copyright, designs, trademarks, computer
software, databases, Internet and cyber laws. Copyright issues associated with digital /
electronic information and protection of digital right.

Inhering defines rights as “legally protected interests” 1 it is an interest that the law recognises
and protects and for the violation of which certain legal remedies arise. Property, on the other
hand, is the land one person owns or debts a person owes, basically corporeal property. But
the definition of property has evolved with the intellect of man and a new form of property
vis-à-vis intellectual property is identified under it. Intellectual property is a certain intangible
property owned by a man as a result of creation by his/her intellect. The rights arising out of
the ownership of this property and the remedies for its violation constitutes the Intellectual
Property Rights. With the ever-growing technological advancements, different avenues for
infringement of Intellectual Property laws have come to surface and these advancements
although positive pose as a potential threat when it comes to protecting intellectual property
rights.

1
Dr. S.R MYNENI, LAW OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 02-03 (9th ed., 2019)

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 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Intellectual property refers to the product of a person's imagination and creativity and the
rights of these people to control the use of their products. Intellectual property can be bought,
sold, exchanged and licensed to other people or organisations by the intellectual property
holder. Intellectual property is insubstantial and is not linked to the tangible artistic, dramatic
or musical work which may have resulted from it. For example: a book is actual property and
can change hands without affecting the intellectual property (in this case copyright) of the
artist. Intellectual property is protected by intellectual property law. There are six major types
of intellectual property law: copyright, patents, designs, trademarks, circuit layouts and new
plant varieties; however, confidential information, the duty of fidelity, trade secrets,
confidentiality and moral rights are also included.

FEATURES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY:

1. It is a form of intangible property.

2. It’s existence distinct from the physical articles or goods which contain the rights.
3. In some cases, the rights are capable of existence and enforcement with no tangible
form.
4. The various rights might subsist in the same things. For example, a document might
be subject to patent, design rights and trademarks. A pictorial trademark might also be
subject to copyright.

NEED OF IPR:

1. Monetary profit is the most important, in most cases, the only motive behind man‘s
relentless toil, inventiveness and ingenuity.
2. With the advent of technology one of issue is legal characterization of the new
invention.
3. It is created to protect the rights of individual to enjoy their creations and invention.
4. Created to insure protection against unfair trade practices.
5. To assure the world a flow of useful, informative and intellectual works.
6. To encourage the continuing innovativeness and creativity of owners of IPR.

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CATEGORIES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS:

According to the World Intellectual Property Organizations, there are seven categories of
Intellectual Property Rights:

 Copyright and Related Rights

 Trademarks, Trade names and Service marks
 Geographical Indications
 Industrial Designs
 Patents
 Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits
 Undisclosed Information

EFFECT OF DIGITAL WORLD ON IPRs

In the digital age the issue of privacy is an important subject where unauthorized data
sharing, data integration, unethical data utilization and unauthorized public disclosure are the
major areas of concern. To counter these dangers incalculable systems have been created to
make advanced works hard to duplicate, convey and access without vital consent. In an
exertion to counter piracy, the media industry, including entertainment and Publishing is
depending on its innovative fixes, for example, Digital Rights Management, Technological
Protection Measures, etc.

IMPACT OF DIGITAL WORLD ON COPYRIGHT

PLAGIARISM

This is one of the main issues and reason for copyright violation in the digital space,
plagiarism is the act of copying someone’s work and claiming it to be one’s own. Although
plagiarism is a moral wrong and is different from copyright violation which is a technical
issue, most of the cases of plagiarism also include copyright violation. In the digital space
where data is a tap away, protecting the intellectual property of the owner from being
plagiarised and thus violated is a huge issue. Doctrine of Sweat of the brow and Originality-
According to the doctrine of the sweat of the brow an author gains rights through simple
diligence during the creation of work. The creator of the copyrighted work, even if the work

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is completely unoriginal, he is entitled to have his efforts and expression protected but must
recreate the work by independent research and effort. This doctrine originated in the UK in
the case of Walter v Lane 2 where an oral speech was reproduced in the same way in a
newspaper, the question was whether such reproduction would give rise to copyright in the
work. The court held that as reporter expounded skill and labour to reproduce the speech, the
work merited copyright protection. The Indian Judiciary also has been following this doctrine
until recently it shifted while dealing with a case of copyright violation in the digital world,
i.e. Eastern Book Co. v D.B Modak3 wherein the Supreme Court Case Reporter was
aggrieved as other companies were launching judgments edited by SCC, the court shifted to
the doctrine of Modicum of Creativity and stated that the inputs given by SCC editors can be
protected because it has originality and creativity, however, judgment being in public domain
anybody can use them and therefore no case of violation was there. Therefore, in this case, no
issue of plagiarism arose due to the concept of its availability in the public domain, however,
otherwise it would.

PIRACY

Piracy is unauthorised distribution and reproduction of work protected under copyright.

Piracy has been a problem in India ever since and it has subsequently increased with the
advent of the internet. One of the first instances of piracy wherein individuals were arrested
for the violation of copyright is T-series v Guruji.com, 4 in this case, a platform guruji.com
that was a music search engine allowed unauthorised download of songs and it had infringed
a number of copyrights of different movies and the engine was subsequently shut down. In
UTV Software Communications ltd v 1337X and others5 in this case, the Delhi high court
ordered “dynamic blocking” injunctions of websites that mainly publish pirated films or
songs. The court applied the qualitative approach to understand the rouge websites (websites
that are overwhelmingly infringing of copyright) and put an injunction on all such websites.

2
Walter v Lane[1900] AC 539
3
(2008) 1 SCC 1
4
Sumathi Chandrashekharan & Prashant Reddy T, The case of guruji.com : Why the question of liability for
Internet intermediaries is complicated, SCROLL.IN, Jun 14, 2017
5
CS(COMM) 724/2017

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 DIGITAL RIGHT MANAGEMENT

Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies (also known as Electronic Rights

Management Systems) ensure copyright through identifying and protecting the content,
controlling access of the work, protecting the integrity of the work and ensuring payment for
the access. DRM technologies prevent illegal users in accessing the content. Access is
protected through user ID and password, licensing agreements. Another way to protect digital
content is through Technical Protection Measures (TPM). These technologies allow
publishing companies in securing and protecting content such as music, text and video from
unauthorized use. If an author wishes to collect fee for use of his or her work, then DRM
technology can be used. The TPM and DRM technologies are increasingly employed to sell
and distribute content over the Internet.

Digital Right Management incorporates systems which have been created to control
duplication, alteration and dissemination of unique works.6 The creators or the makers of the
first works battle that DRM procedures are fundamental to ensure their enthusiasm by
anticipating free and unapproved duplicating and dispersion of their work. A couple of DRM
arrangements were presented in the Indian Copyright law by the method for an amendment in
2012. Segment 65A and 65B were added to the Indian Copyright Act, 1957. 7 Some of the
DRM techniques are as follows:

ENCRYPTION SCHEMES

Encryption Schemes enable makers to avert any unapproved access to their unique work.
Encryption of substance is an approach to decide the approved client in the computerized
condition. Encryption includes computerized scrambling of the bits that make up substance to
keep the substance from being seen unmistakably until it is decoded. Just approved clients
have the keys to decode the work.

ACCESS CONTROL AND COPY CONTROL

Access and duplicate control programming empowers the maker to keep in mind the free and
unlawful abuse of their work. These procedures guarantee that solitary who pay must

6
DIVYESH PRATAP, Is „Fair Use‟ of Copyrighted Work a thing of the past?, LEXPRESS (July 11, 2018),
http://www.lexpress.in/lawdevelopment/digital-rights-management-provisions-and-indian-copyright-law
7
The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012

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appreciate a directly over the item. Access controls are a classification of programming that is
intended to keep a client from getting a first duplicate of work except if they have a permit to
do as such. Duplicate controls are bits of programming that attempt to prevent open from
causing a multiplication of work once they too have acquired a duplicate. 8 Access controls are
generally simple to execute. Case of this can be a site that expects clients to pay an expense
before being offered a download.

DIGITAL WATERMARKS

Advanced Watermarks are the best methods that help creators to follow the wellspring of a
work and any unapproved duplication or circulation of their unique work. The novel
watermark installed in the first work can interface the utilization to the first work and any
unapproved replicating or use can be followed. Exceptional highlights are installed into the
substance that is not unmistakable all things considered, however, which can be perused by a
location gadget so it knows whether the substance being played or utilized is approved and
where the wellspring of the substance was begun. Such data can give information on the
creator, rights, appropriation, and so on. 9 It can likewise contain duplicate control data and
directions. There are different technological protection measures by method for which the
encroachment of copyright work can be averted and the enthusiasm of the creators can be
verified, but still, data is copied and distributed on the digital platforms.

CRYPTOGRAPHY

Cryptography is the oldest mechanism employed to ensure security and privacy of

information over networks. This involves scrambling (or encryption) of the information to
render it unreadable or not understandable language, which only the legitimate user can
unscramble (or decrypt). However cryptography protects the work during transmission or
distribution only. After the work is decrypted, it does not provide any protection.

DIGITAL SIGNATURE TECHNOLOGY

Digital signature includes identity of the sender and/or receiver date, time, any unique code
etc. This information can be added to digital products. This digitally marks and binds a
software product for transferring to a specified customer. Digitally signed fingerprints
guarantee document authenticity and prevent illegal copying.
8
KRISHNENDRA JOSHI, COPYRIGHT IN DIGITAL ERA, IPLEADERS (MAY 12, 2019),
HTTPS://BLOG.IPLEADERS.IN/COPYRIGHTDIGITAL-ERA/
9
Deepa Merin Jose, R.Karuppathal, A.Vincent Antony Kumar, Copyright Protection Using Digital Watermarking,
IJCA, 24-26 (2012)

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ELECTRONIC MARKING

In this technique, the system automatically generates a unique mark that is tagged to each of
the document copies. This technique is used to protect copyright as well as in electronic
publishing where documents are printed, copied or faxed.

SECURITY FEATURES OF OPERATING SYSTEM

For protection of files, data etc the operating system of computer such as Windows 2000
Professional, Windows 2000 Server, MS-SQL Server has some unique special security and
integrity features.

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 CONCLUSION

Copyright being a shallow right has been neglected ever since but with the surfacing of the
digital world, the significance of it is increasing day by day. As we advance with technology,
the chances of infringement of this shallow right increases as well and the intellectual
property of people are put at stake. The Copyright Act, 1957 being accused of the poor
protection and requirement arrangements, it's about time that India ought to stringently
pursue these arrangements of advanced rights of the board and keep aware of copyright
encroachment in the computerized condition.

A number of issues are associated with the usage of digital information i.e., issue of single
articles versus full issues of e-journals, user-friendliness, incompatible hardware and
software, formatting, graphics, scholarly recognition and obsolescence. While it is important
to protect the copyright of the publishers, it is equally important to protect interest of the
libraries and the user. In digital environment it is difficult to draw a boundary line between
what is permissible, to what extent and what is infringement. Small – scale violations which
do not conflict with owner’s rights may be accepted as a part of fair use. In the context of
digital information, it is difficult to judge, comprehend fair use, access and control the
infringement of copyright law. It is almost impossible for a copyright owner to know which
person used his/her work. In this context it is necessary to modify the copyright law. The
librarians in the digital environment have some responsibility to collect information and help
the readers by giving it even if it is an electronic form. The copyright protection should be
encouraging the creativity and not for creating hurdles in the use of information. The
Librarians should work as a catalyst for the free flow of information between the owners of
copyright and the users of the information.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

SITES REFERRED:
 http://eprints.rclis.org/28939/1/Intellectual%20Property%20Rights%20in%20Digital
%20Environment_ISI.pdf
 http://www.ijodls.in/uploads/3/6/0/3/3603729/vol-5_issue-2.117-123.pdf
 https://www.ijlsi.com/wp-content/uploads/Intellectual-Property-Rights-and-The-
Digital-World-Ashmita-Ishan.pdf
 https://www.academia.edu/42247111/
Intellectual_Property_Rights_and_The_Digital_World

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