Legal Question in Technology Law in India

Re: non contractual legal protection

Dear Sir,

Though it is best to make your license agreement as detailed as possible, in India, software has non-contractual protected under the Copyright Act 1957 ("Act"), which provides the law relating to copyrights in India. Copyright is a means of protecting intellectual property rights and confers on the owner of a work the right to ensure that his work is not appropriated by anybody else without his consent. The Act protects the rights of a creator in literary works, usually written matter, like books, stories, computer programmes, tables and compilations.

The underlying principal of the Act is that copyright vests with the 'owner' of the original 'work' and usually the 'author' of a work is considered the owner. The owner is entitled to exploit the copyright and to avail of the remedies provided under the Act to ensure against unauthorised use. The Act lays down the rights of copyright holder, position on rentals of software, the rights of the user to make backup copies and punishment and fines for infringement of copyright of software. The fact, that the copy is as good as original, however, does not legitimate piracy. The Copyright infringer may be tried under both civil and criminal law.

According to the Act, it is illegal to make or distribute copies of copyrighted software without proper or specific authorisation, with an exception allowing a backup copy to be made purely as a temporary protection against loss, distribution or damage to the original copy. The Act also prohibits the sale or to give on hire, or offer for sale or hire, any copy of the computer program without specific authorisation of the copyright holder. A civil and criminal action may be instituted for injunction, actual damages (including infringer's profits) or statutory damages per infringement etc. Stipulation exists for a minimum jail term of 7 days extendable up to 3 years, with fines ranging from Rs. 50,000 to 2,00,000 for such an infringement.

It is not necessarily to register with the Copyright Office to get copyright protection. However, registration is a good idea as it is prima facie evidence of particulars entered in the register with the Copyright Office. It may be mentioned here that thought the Copyright Office has procedures designed to protect trade secrets but once the Copyright is registered, the work is open to public inspection.

India is a member of the Bern Convention and the UCC, therefore if your country is also a member, you will find reciprocal treatment being given to your copyright in India.

Trust the above addresses some of your concerns, however, if you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Warm regards,

Sajai Singh

[email protected]

Re: non contractual legal protection

Dear Friend,

I am sorry, but as a matter of practise, we do not reply to queries from the persons, who do not give their complete details, nor to the persons not directly affected by the problem under the query. We also do not give any citations to the seekers.

Therefore we request you to send your query only through the query form at the Free legal advice pages of the vakilbabu website at http://www.vakilbabu.com quoting the reference LawGuru.com.

We believe you shall understand.

Warm regards

Satish Maheshwari.