Isha Arora (student) 15 November 2009

a bit of query..

What is the nature of copyright on the internet? Analyse the remedies available against infringement of copyright.

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5 Replies

Anish goyal (Advocate) 15 November 2009

Nature of copyright on internet is the same.

Kiran Kumar (Lawyer) 16 November 2009

i agree with anish the same law will apply.

however u may check more interpretation with WIPO website.

Iftikhar Ahsan (Indian Patent Agent) 16 November 2009

You may also refer to Cyber Law.

Isha Arora (student) 16 November 2009

Can someone please explain in detail because its urgent.

Digvijay Singh (Advocate & Legal Consultant ) 17 November 2009

Intellectual property rights apply on the Internet but the difficulty is to make them enforceable. The ease of reproducing works if they are in digital format is inexpensive and there is a near-perfect quality of copies. Publishers and other copyright holders argue that the Internet impairs their intellectual property interests by fundamentally transforming the nature and means of publications and thus making their works extremely vulnerable to Internet piracy. The decentralized nature of Internet's management makes it possible for any user to widely disseminate a work on the electronic network termed as Cyberspace through any number of channels. A user can easily distribute a work to news groups through e-mail or on personal website.

Computer programmes are considered as literary works and are protected under the Copyright Act. There is no copyright in an idea.

Use of the “©” symbol

Anyone who claims copyrights in a work can use copyright notice to alert the public of the claim. It is not necessary to have a registration to use the designations though it is highly advisable to incorporate a copyright notice like the symbol, etter “c” in a circle or the word “Copyright” followed by name of copyright owner and year of first publication.

Remedies For Infringement

It is the sole responsibility of the owner to see that his copyright is not being infringed upon by someone else. It is the owner’s duty to file a suit of infringement against the infringer. The reliefs which may be usually awarded in such a suit are -

i. Injunctions whether interim or final. ii. Damages.

Criminal action also can be taken on the basis of copyright registration. The minimum punishment for infringement of copyright is imprisonment for six months with the minimum fine of Rs. 50,000/-. In the case of a second and subsequent conviction the minimum punishment is imprisonment for one year and fine of Rs. one lakh.

International copyright protection

India is a member of both Berne and Universal Conventions and Indian law extends protection to all copyrighted works originating from any of the convention countries. Foreign works first published in a country which is a member of either of the Conventions would be accorded the same copyright protection in India as Indian works without undergoing any formalities, on the assumption that the home country accords reciprocity to Indian works.