A drawing of a chair is an artistic work, protected by copyright the moment it is drawn, for the designer’s lifetime and sixty years after. The chair made from it, once it is in production, is a design — and design protection is fifteen years at most, and only if registered. Indian law does not let the owner have both. Which one applies, and when the longer one is lost, is decided by a rule that every product company should know and most learn about too late.
Quick reference
| Copyright | Automatic; life plus sixty years; protects the artistic work from copying |
| Registered design | On application; ten years plus five; protects the appearance of the article |
| The rule | No copyright in a registered design; copyright in a registrable but unregistered design ends once it is reproduced more than fifty times by an industrial process |
| The test | Is the work an artistic work in its own right, or a design applied to an article? |
| Practical answer | Products going into production: register the design. One-off and fine-art works: copyright |
The rule
The Copyright Act says two things about designs.
First, copyright does not subsist in a design that is registered under the Designs Act. Once you register, the design is protected by the registration alone.
Second, copyright in a design that could have been registered but was not ceases as soon as any article to which the design has been applied has been reproduced more than fifty times by an industrial process, by the owner or with the owner’s licence. Fifty copies made, and the fifty-first ends the copyright — in the design.
The purpose is to stop the long copyright term being used to protect mass-produced product shapes that the design system, with its short term and registration requirement, was meant to govern.
What is lost and what is kept
The rule is narrower than it sounds, and the distinction matters.
What ceases is copyright in the design — the features of shape, pattern or ornament as applied to the article. What survives is copyright in the original artistic work from which the design was derived, as an artistic work. A painting reproduced on a thousand cushions loses its copyright as a cushion design; the painting itself remains a painting, and copying it as a painting is still infringement. The Delhi High Court drew this line in the Microfibres case, and the Supreme Court confirmed the approach in Cryogas in 2025.
The Cryogas test asks, in two steps: is the work an artistic work in its own right, or is it a design — that is, was it created to be applied to an article by an industrial process, and does it meet the definition of a design? If it is a design and it has been industrially applied more than fifty times without registration, its copyright is gone. If it is an artistic work — a drawing, a sculpture, a work of artistic craftsmanship valued for itself — copyright continues, and the rule does not touch it. The court also directed attention to the functional utility of the article: the more a work exists to serve a product’s function or appearance, the more likely it is a design.
How it plays out
Engineering drawings. Drawings of a machine part are artistic works. The part made from them, in quantity, is at best a design, and often not even that, because its shape is functional. Copyright in the drawings does not stop a competitor making the part, and the drawings cannot be used to get round the absence of a patent.
Textile and surface patterns. The pattern is drawn — an artistic work — and printed on fabric by the thousand. It is a design and should be registered. The drawing remains protected against being copied as a drawing, which is rarely the problem.
Jewellery and craft. A hand-made piece is an artistic work, and a run of a few is still within copyright. A line produced in quantity is a design.
Logos and packaging artwork. A logo is usually protected as a trademark and, as artwork, by copyright; applied to packaging in quantity, the packaging get-up is a design. Trademark protection, which does not expire, is the anchor.
Characters and illustrations on merchandise. The character drawing keeps its copyright; the design of the mug or the T-shirt on which it appears does not.
Choosing
The decision has to be made before production, because the design cannot be registered once the product has been made public, and copyright will end at the fifty-first copy.
Where the work will be industrially reproduced — any product going into production — register the design. It is inexpensive, and it is the only protection that will exist after the first fifty.
Where the work is a one-off or a limited run valued as art, rely on copyright, and keep the run below fifty.
Where both are needed — an artwork that will also be applied to products — register the design for the product and keep the artwork’s copyright for the artwork. The two coexist provided the design registration covers the applied version and the artwork remains a distinct work.
And where the value is in the brand, protect the shape or get-up as a trademark if it can be, because trademark protection outlasts both.
Frequently asked questions
Can I rely on copyright instead of registering a design in India? Only until the article carrying the design has been reproduced more than fifty times by an industrial process. After that, copyright in a registrable but unregistered design ends. For a product going into production, design registration is the only protection that lasts.
Does registering a design end copyright in the artwork? Copyright does not subsist in the registered design itself. Copyright in the original artistic work from which the design was taken continues as an artistic work — the painting stays protected as a painting.
What is the fifty-copy rule? Copyright in a design capable of registration under the Designs Act, but not registered, ceases once an article to which it has been applied has been reproduced more than fifty times by an industrial process by or with the licence of the copyright owner.
What did the Supreme Court decide in Cryogas? That the question is whether the work is an artistic work in its own right or a design applied to an article, with attention to the article’s functional utility. Copyright in a design ends after fifty industrial reproductions; copyright in a genuine artistic work does not.
Do engineering drawings protect the product made from them? No. The drawings are artistic works, but copyright in them does not extend to stopping manufacture of the article, which is a design question or a patent question.
When do I have to decide between design and copyright? Before production and before any public disclosure. A design cannot be registered once the product has been made public, and copyright in the design runs out at the fifty-first copy.
Useful official resources
- IP India — designs — the Designs Act and forms
- Copyright Office, India — the Copyright Act
See our related notes on the design registration process, copyright registration and our earlier note on the Delhi High Court’s approach to the overlap.
A product about to go into production on the strength of copyright alone? Talk to us before the fifty-first copy.