What is a Copyright?
Copyright protects the right of creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and producers of cinematography films and sound recordings. It gives the rights including, inter alias, rights of reproduction, communication to the public, adaptation and translation of the work. Copyright ensures certain minimum safeguards of the rights of authors over their creations, thereby protecting and rewarding creativity. The protection provided by copyright to the efforts of writers, artists, designers, dramatists, musicians, architects and producers of sound recordings, cinematograph films and computer software, creates an atmosphere conducive to creativity, which induces them to create more and motivates others to create.
Illustration
The script of the movie Baahubali is copyrighted in India and no one can copy the similar work.
Why is it important to get a copyright for cinematographic films in India?
If you do not have a copyright for your motion picture, someone else may just copy or fake your work. Also, keep in mind that the person who obtains copyright protection first will be respected and approved. You will be able to enjoy your ownership of your work for a set amount of time by obtaining a copyright license. You may view various films and movies with copyrights on YouTube where, producers own the copyright for movies. By having a copyright, a movie can be shown everywhere only with the owner’s permission. When a piece of work is fixed and reproduced in a copy, copyright for motion pictures is automatically protected. This tends to be a motivation factor for the owner to present more works of his/her ideas and themes. Hence, a person should protect his hard work by registering for a copyright license.
Category of the work
Category will be determined based on nature and definition of work. When it comes to Cinematograph Film, which is any visual recording such as videos, short films, movies, animated movies, documentaries etc. Visual recording includes moving images and therefore, any recording of moving images like photographs, stills, drawings, animated content etc. will be considered a cinematograph film.
Illustrations
- Recordings of a video game or animations are moving images and therefore will be considered as cinematograph film.
- Video recordings of choreography/dance performances/classroom lectures/public delivery of lectures will also be considered cinematographic films.
What is the term for the copyright protection for cinematographic films in India?
According to section 26 of the Copyright Act, 1957, In the case of a cinematograph film, copyright shall subsists until 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the film is published.
Who is an Author, Owner and publisher of the Cinematographic Film?
- According to section 2(d) (v) of the Act, the author of cinematograph film is the producer and as per section 2(u) (u) the producer in relation to a cinematograph film or sound recording, means a person who takes the initiative and responsibility for making the work.
- Owner is the person who owns or by virtue of an agreement, is entitled to own the copyright in a work.
- Publisher is the person who makes the work available to public.
How to file a copyright application for cinematographic film
Every application for registration of copyright shall be made in Form-XIV(Rule 70 of Copyright Rules).
What are the requirements for registration of a cinematographic film?
- Form XIV
- Statement of Particulars [Sop]
- 2 copies of the work (01 copy if work is published)
- Power of Attorney [if filing through an advocate or an individual other than the applicant]
- No Objection Certificate [NOC] or an agreement from various other persons involved in the creation of work. This is not needed if the applicant is the sole creator of the work (The applicant needs to submit an affidavit in this case).
- NOC/Agreement from the publisher if publisher is other than the applicant.
- Fee for cinematograph films is INR 5,000 per work. A separate application needs to be filed for each work and separate fee needs to be paid.
What happens after the submission of a valid copyright application for cinematographic film?
After the submission of a valid copyright application for cinematographic film, a formality check will be conducted where they will observe all the required documents and compliances have been done or not. If there is any error in the application, then a letter will be send to the communication address of the application, if there is no error there will be a waiting period of about 30 days for the purpose of receiving objection(s) from the person(s) who claims or has any interest in the subject matter of copyright or disputes the rights of the applicant to application submitted for registration. If the Registrar of Copyrights receives no objection to such registration, the application may be processed, thereafter strictly on first come first serve basis.
What are the mandatory contents of an agreement obtained from different rights holders
According to section 19(1) of the Copyright Act, 1957, for an assignment agreement to be valid, it must be in writing and signed by the assignor or his duly authorized agent and it should specify the names of all parties and should bear the signatures of all parties.
According to section 19 of the Copyrights Act, 1957, an assignment or a licensing agreement between the applicant of the copyright and the rights holders (various persons such as lyricists, music directors, composers, script writers, performers, singers, dancers, actors etc.) should specify the elements like Work, Rights assigned, Duration of assignment), Territorial extent of assignment, Amount of royalty/consideration payable to author or his legal heirs (if applicable).
Publication
According to section 3 of the Copyright Act, 1957, A work is considered published when it is made available to the public through communication or issue of physical copies (Section 3). Communication to public means making the work available for being heard, seen, or enjoyed by the public (other than by issuing physical copies of it). The communication may be direct or by any means of display. According to Section 2 (ff), Whether or not someone actually sees, hears, or enjoys the work or performance made available is immaterial when it comes to determining if the work is published or not.
What are the most important things that should be looked into while filing the application?
There are some cases where the application can be rejected if the following things are not followed properly.
Consideration amount
According to section 19(3) of the Copyright Act, 1957, an assignment agreement must specify the amount of royalty or other consideration payable to the author or his legal heirs. Therefore, blacking out of consideration amount is not acceptable and assignment agreements must clearly reflect the consideration amount.
Sole creator
An affidavit, stating that applicant is the sole creator of the work and no other person holds any rights in the work, is needed to be submitted with the application. Original/notarized copy of the affidavit needs to be submitted.
Title
The title as indicated in statement of particulars must be identical with the title appearing on the work submitted for registration. If the title is completely different from the one stated on the Statement of Particulars, it gives rise to a discrepancy.
Original agreements
Original copies of assignment agreements/Licensing Deeds/NOCs should be sent along with the application. Alternatively, notarized copies of agreements/NOCs can also be sent.
What can you do if the application is rejected?
As per the rule 70(12) of the Copyright Rules, 2013, an opportunity of hearing must be given. However, only after hearing, it may be decided to register the work or to reject it. The applicant himself or his/her pleader may appear in the hearing. As per section 72 of the Copyright Act, 1957, any person aggrieved by the final decision or order of the Registrar of Copyrights may, within three months from the date of the order or decision, appeal to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB).
Conclusion
Copyrights for cinematographic films are very important because it protects the copyright owner both intellectually and financially. It is very important to note that after getting copyright on the cinematographic film there will be no claim on your film or disturbance to your reputation because copyrights are given based on first come basis for a duration of 60 years.
Submission By: Pawan Krishna, DSNLU, Visakhapatnam
DUCTUS EDGE 