Copyright is the one intellectual property right that needs nothing from you. Write the paragraph, take the photograph, compile the code, and the right exists. What it covers, and for how long, is where the questions start.
Quick reference
| Arises | Automatically, on creation of an original work; no registration or notice needed |
| Works | Literary (including software), dramatic, musical and artistic works; cinematograph films; sound recordings |
| Not protected | Ideas, facts, methods, titles, names, short phrases, styles |
| Term, most works | Author’s life plus sixty years |
| Term, films and sound recordings | Sixty years from publication |
| Foreign works | Protected in India under the Berne Convention on the same terms |
The works
The Act protects six categories:
- Literary works — books, articles, letters, lyrics, tables, compilations and computer programmes, which the Act treats as literary works
- Dramatic works — plays, scripts, choreography, anything intended to be performed
- Musical works — the composition, notated or not, but not the words and not the recording
- Artistic works — paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings, photographs, works of architecture and works of artistic craftsmanship, whether or not they have artistic quality
- Cinematograph films — any work of visual recording, with or without sound, including video
- Sound recordings — the recording itself, separate from the music and words recorded
A single product often carries several. A song is a literary work (lyrics), a musical work (composition) and a sound recording, each with its own author and owner. A website is literary works, artistic works and possibly software. A film contains a script, a score, songs and the film itself.
Original, but not much
The work must be original, which in India means it originated with the author and involved a minimal degree of skill and judgment — not mere copying, and not mere labour either. The Supreme Court settled this in the Eastern Book Company case: copying a judgment and adding paragraph numbers and formatting is not original; adding editorial notes and a considered arrangement is. The bar is low but it exists, and it is why a directory, a price list or a form may or may not be protected depending on what went into it.
What is not protected
Copyright protects the expression, not the idea. A plot, a concept, a business method, a game mechanic, a style of painting, a recipe’s method, a scientific fact — none is protected, however original. Only the particular words, images, notes or code in which it is expressed are. The Supreme Court’s R.G. Anand decision remains the reference: two films on the same theme do not infringe each other unless the second copies the first’s expression to the point that an ordinary viewer would see one as a copy of the other.
Also outside copyright: titles and names — of books, films, songs, products — which are trademark matters if anything; short phrases and slogans; facts and data as such, though an original compilation of them can be protected; and functional articles, which are for designs and patents.
The rights
The owner has the exclusive right to do, and to authorise others to do, a set of acts that varies by work: to reproduce it in any form, including storing it electronically; to issue copies to the public; to perform or communicate it to the public, including by broadcast and online; to make a translation or adaptation; to make a film or sound recording of it; and, for software, films and sound recordings, to sell or rent copies. Each right can be assigned or licensed separately, which is what makes publishing, music and software deals possible.
Alongside the economic rights, the author has moral rights — to be credited, and to object to distortion of the work — which stay with the author even after the copyright is sold.
How long it lasts
| Work | Term |
|---|---|
| Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, including photographs | Author’s life plus sixty years, counted from the start of the year after death; for joint works, from the death of the last surviving author |
| Anonymous and pseudonymous works | Sixty years from publication, unless the author’s identity is disclosed |
| Posthumous works | Sixty years from publication |
| Cinematograph films | Sixty years from publication |
| Sound recordings | Sixty years from publication |
| Government, public-undertaking and international-organisation works | Sixty years from publication |
| Performers’ rights | Fifty years from the performance |
| Broadcast reproduction right | Twenty-five years from the broadcast |
Two points trip people up. Photographs used to have a separate term of sixty years from publication; the 2012 amendment removed it, and a photograph is now an artistic work protected for the photographer’s life plus sixty years. Guidance that still says sixty years from publication is out of date. And the term cannot be renewed or extended: when it ends, the work is in the public domain.
No formalities
No registration, deposit, notice or symbol is required. The © notice is useful — it tells people who claims the work and deters the “I didn’t know” defence — but its absence changes nothing. Registration with the Copyright Office is optional and useful as evidence; there is a separate guide.
Foreign works
India is a member of the Berne Convention and the WTO, and protects works first published in, or by nationals of, other member countries as if they were Indian. A book published in London or software written in Bengaluru for a company in Boston is protected here without any step. The converse is also true: Indian works are protected in every Berne country automatically.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to register copyright in India? No. Copyright arises automatically when an original work is created. Registration is optional; it provides prima facie evidence of ownership and is useful before litigation or a transaction.
What does copyright not protect? Ideas, concepts, facts, methods and styles; titles, names and short phrases; and functional articles. Copyright protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself.
How long does copyright last in India? For literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, including photographs, the author’s life plus sixty years. For films, sound recordings, and anonymous, posthumous and government works, sixty years from publication.
Is a photograph protected for the photographer’s life plus sixty years? Yes, since the 2012 amendment. The old term of sixty years from publication no longer applies.
Is software protected by copyright in India? Yes, as a literary work, from the moment the code is written. The protection covers the code, not the functionality, which is a patent question.
Are foreign works protected in India? Yes. Works from Berne Convention and WTO member countries are protected in India on the same terms as Indian works, without registration.
Useful official resources
- Copyright Office, India — the Act, Rules and e-filing
- WIPO — Berne Convention — member countries
See our related notes on who owns copyright, copyright registration and moral rights.
Unsure whether something is protected, or for how long? Talk to us.