Simple Steps for the Copyright Registration Process in India

Any form of art is precious and needs to be preserved by its creator. A potent way to safeguard one’s intellectual property is to undertake Copyright Registration process. It is a legal right that helps the original creator to protect his work from infringement. Nobody can reproduce, copy, distribute or publish a copyright work without the consent of its original creator. Copyright is an exclusive right given to the creators of artistic, literary, software, cinematographic film, dramatic or musical work. If you are also blessed with any creative talent, then you must consider registering under the Copyright Act, 1957.

Significance of Copyright Registration

It takes a considerable amount of mental labour and exertion to create an original piece of art. Thus, it becomes the fundamental duty to protect the original work from an unauthorized duplication.

The central objective of Copyright Registration process is to keep a provable record of the content and date of the original work. Therefore, in case of plagiarism or infringement, the Copyright owner can provide a copy of his work from an official government source. 

What does Copyright mainly protect?

All the work that falls under the category of an intellectual property like songs, graphics, tunes, sculptures, architecture, paintings, sound recordings, choreographed works, signatures, parodies are subject to protected with Copyright whereas, a person cannot acquire Copyright for intangible names, titles, slogans, designs or symbols.

Benefits of Copyright Registration

A person can yield an array of advantages from Copyright Registration such as:

• Public Notice of ownership: After Copyright Registration, a creative work gets published in the Catalog of Copyright Office and thus becomes accessible to the general public. It increases the goodwill of the original creator in the public’s eye and reduces the chances of false infringement.
• Accelerate innovative ideas: An artwork emerges from a unique creative idea which is more prone to be copied, if not registered. Copyright laws stimulate creative ideas and empower the original artist to develop more new masterpieces.
• Legal protection: The biggest perk of Copyright Registration in India is that it gives legal protection. If anybody tries to claim your Copyright work as his own, in such a situation, you can easily file a lawsuit against an infringement. Hence, it is essential to register under Copyright Act, 1957 to avoid any costly dispute.
• Eligible to claim statutory damages: If a person registers Copyright after 3 months of its publication or before the infringement, then he is liable for an award of statutory damages. It enables Copyright owner to claim appropriate compensation for each infringed work. Moreover, the owner also gets the authority to evaluate the actual costs. 

Documents Required For Copyright Registration

Here is the list of documents that an applicant must submit while filing a Copyright Application as per the type of work:

Apart from the above documents, the applicant must also provide the information like:

• Name, address and nationality of the applicant;
• The nature of the applicant’s interest in the work;
• Language of the work;
• Status of published/unpublished work;
• Year and countries of the subsequent publication;
• Two copies of manuscripts, if the work is unpublished.

Simple Steps for Copyright Registration process

Follow the simple procedure given below to register a Copyright for your piece- 

• User Registration- The applicant needs to register on the official website of government. Therefore, he/she will receive the login ID and password.
• Filing of Copyright Application- The next step is to file an Application in Form XIV and pay the prescribed fee. It takes around 2 to 4 working days to prepare and file Copyright Application.
• Submission- After the applicant submits the Application with all the required documents, he/she will receive a dairy number (Acknowledgement). Subsequently, he has to wait for next 30 days for any objections.
• Issuance of Copyright Registration Certificate- If there is no discrepancy; Registrar will approve the Application and issue a Copyright Certificate. Usually, the entire Copyright Registration process completes within 2 to 3 months.

Copyright is valid for a lifetime of the original creator and remains valid for 60 years after the death of the creator.  

Conclusion

Copyright Registration process might seem to be simple on a surface level, but the preparation of documentation is a tedious task. Besides, one must loop onto Copyright to gain an edge over the competitors who can threaten your original work.

Swarit Advisors gives end-to-end assistance in Copyright Registration and offers customized solutions as per the nature of your artwork.