What is copyright? What are the different types of copyright registration?

Introduction

The rights to adaptation, reproduction, and public communication are all included in the copyright, which is a subdivision of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). People are given copyrights for their creativity and invention in the areas of music, film, literature, and any other creative activity. In this blog, we will discuss the different types of copyright registration protected under the Copyright Act, 1957.

What is Copyright?

It is a type of IPR that gives its owner the exclusive right to replicate and distribute creative work for a certain period of time. Literature, art, education, and music are all examples of creative endeavours. It is valid for 60 years. The 60-year term begins the year after the author’s death in the case of original literary, musical, theatrical, and artistic works.

Different types of Copyright Registration

Copyright application promotes an environment of creativity by safeguarding the rights of the work’s original authors. The Copyright Act, 1957 applies to many different types of works. The different types of copyright registration in India are mentioned below.

1. Literary work: Works that contain original or unique literary ideas are protected by the Copyright Act, 1957. Scripts, novels, biographies, research papers, technical texts, and programmes are only a few examples of these creative creations. Regardless of the literary merit, artistic style, or quality of the work, the copyrights to these could be asserted. The literary work covered by copyright is granted exclusive rights.

• To create modifications to a work
• To perform the piece in front of an audience
• For distributing work copies to the general public
• Rights to copy and reproduce
• A translation of the work

2. Musical works: Music compositions themselves are protected by copyright (a subdivision of IPR). Lyrics and sound are not included in musical works. Despite the fact that the work associated with sound recordings is typically dependent on the musical works, a separate copyright application must be made to the Copyright Office for the protection of musical works. A musical work doesn’t need to be written to be protected by the Copyright Act, 1957.  Exclusive rights are provided by the Act for songs in India under “musical works.”

• To replicate the musical composition.
• For making the work accessible to the public.
• To perform the musical composition in front of an audience, to alter the work in any way.
• Distribute copies of the work to the public.
• To create a video or a sound recording in honour of the musical composition.

3. Sound recording: The term “sound recording” refers to any type of recording on any storage medium. It could be any song with or without music, a podcast, or any audio that has been recorded. Since music is an element of sound recordings, the author or creator of the music must provide clearance to safeguard the sound recording’s copyright. Exclusive rights are provided by the Act for recordings of sound recording works.

• To promote the sale or rental of any copy of the sound recording.
• To make the sound recordings available to the public.
• To produce another audio recording to represent it.

 4. Dramatic works: This also qualifies as literary work. It comprises any kind of choreography, fixed literary labour, or preparation for a play that will be performed. It also involves dumb show entertainment. Cinematographic films of any kind are not, however, considered dramatic works. Exclusive rights are granted by the Act for dramatic works.

• To create any modifications to the work.
• To replicate the work.
• To allow the public to see the work.
• To include the work in a cinematic film.

5. Cinematographic works

Cinematographic films generally contain all previously recorded visual and moving-image works. It is part of a visual recording that also includes sound recordings that were created using any process, whether digital or analogue. It may also refer to any technique for maintaining such visual data in any media.  Exclusive rights are provided under the cinematographic film work by copyright.

• To use, purchase, or provide a copy of the movie.
• To distribute the cinematographic film to the audience.
• To duplicate or alter the film.

6. Artistic works: The artistic work is protected under the Copyright Act, 1957 of IPR. The artistic works include paintings, photographs, structures, schematics, cartoons, plans, etchings, and casts for sculptures, graphics, and sketches. Exclusive rights are provided by the copyright application for artistic works.

• Openly and publicly distribute copies of the work.
• To include the original content in cinematic films.
• To modify the work in any way with the purpose of duplicating it or distributing it to the public.

Sump-up

A subdivision of IPR is copyright which creates an environment that promotes innovation in work. However, it could be destructive to the advancement of society if innovation is claimed as ownership for decades. As a result, the duration of copyright protection in India was set as the lifetime of the creator plus sixty years from the year of the passing of the creator. The different types of copyright applications are discussed in the above article.