An overview of the copyright act of 1957.

Legal services and matters related to the copyright is governed by Copyright Act, 1957 in India. The Act has been amended several times since its instigation in 1957 to keep up with the changing scenarios. As per this Act, a copyright grants author's lifetime coverage plus 60 years 8 PP-IPRL&P after death. Copyright and related rights on cultural goods, products and services, arise from individual or collective creativity. All original intellectual creations expressed in a reproducible form will be connected as "works eligible for copyright protections". Copyright laws distinguish between different classes of works such as literary, artistic, musical works and sound recordings and cinematograph films. The work is protected irrespective of the quality thereof and also when it may have very little in common with accepted forms of literature or art.

A vital field which gets copyright protection is the computer industry. The Copyright Act, 1957, was amended in 1984 and computer programming was included with the definition of "literary work.' The new definition of "computer programme" introduced in 1994, means a set of instructions expressed in works, codes or in any other form, including a machine readable medium, capable of causing a computer to perform a particular task or achieve a particular result.

Copyright protection also includes novel rights which involve the right to claim authorship of a work, and the right to oppose changes to it that could harm the creator's reputation. The creator or the owner of the copyright in a work, can enforce his right administratively and in the courts by inspection of premises for evidence of production or possession of illegally made "pirated" goods related to protected works. The owner may obtain court orders to stop such activities, as well as seek damages for loss of financial rewards and recognition.

CoinproBiz Solutions has been established to provide exclusive services in the field of Company Registration, Intellectual Property Rights, Trademark registration, Copyright Registration and allied services, with the help of specialized and experienced professionals from varied backgrounds such as Company Secretaries, Chartered Accountants, Corporate Lawyers and Business Professionals. We are dedicated to providing the best recommendations and execution for leading, middle market and emerging growth companies to promote their business. 

Trademarking FAQs.

For a start-up or a small business, the intellectual property is often the biggest asset for the company. This IP is what distinguishes them from their competitors. Intellectual property includes trademark, patents, and copyright. In this blog, we are going to focus on the trademark.

Trademark is what helps companies keep their brand safe. After the trademark registration has been filed and approved, the company owns the intellectual property rights for that particular name, logo or slogan. That way the company can take legal actions when other players in the market try to hijack their identity by copying logo or name and use them in a mutilated form. Following are the most frequently asked questions and their answers.

1. Does trademarking IP confirm the prevention of its misuse?

The main purpose of trademarking an IP is to gain to rights to that specific logo or name and protect it from competitors. It also prevents confusion in the market and helps you set your distinct identity in the clutter of brands. That's the reason why trademark protection only applies to a particular category of goods and services. For example, there can be two different companies with the same name but the only requirements are that they should not be competing in the same market. Let’s take the mobile manufacturing giant Nokia who is actually named after a river, there can also be small violin making company named the same without facing any legal actions. As there is no reason for the consumers to confuse the two of them.

2. What is the right time to file a trademark?

As early as possible. As soon as you can decide upon the name and logo of your company you should file an intent-to-use trademark application. This makes sure that your brand is protected once you begin your commercial sales. In addition, a comprehensive trademark search usually accompanies the registration filing. You should first do a trademark search to make sure that you are not trying to infringe someone else’s mark.

3. What happens when someone uses my trademark?

If the other company is in the different market segment you can’t stop him from using your mark, you can only do so when the company is in the same market of goods and services as you are. If you believe your competitor is infringing on your mark, an attorney will first send a cease and desist letter on your behalf, demanding him to stop using your mark. If that's unsuccessful, you can file a lawsuit to stop the use. In many cases, you can also sue the other user for the compensation of the monetary loss that his infringement has caused.

CoinproBiz Solutions has been established to provide exclusive services in the field of Company Registration, Intellectual Property Rights, Trademark registration, Copyright Registration and allied services, with the help of specialized and experienced professionals from varied backgrounds such as Company Secretaries, Chartered Accountants, Corporate Lawyers and Business Professionals. We are dedicated to providing the best recommendations and execution for leading, middle market and emerging growth companies to promote their business.

Digital streaming services also bound by the copyright.

Giving assurance to the online streaming services, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has clarified in a decision that all forms of broadcasting -including digital music streaming -fall under section 31(D) of the Copyright Act of 2013.

Section 31(D) of the Act offers statutory licensing (SL) to broadcasting services, allowing them the right to offer music to their listeners or customers at rates determined by the Copyright Board. This provision was brought into the Act to protect broadcasters from abusive practices of some music companies, who demanded unreasonable and unjustifiable royalties before granting permissions. Though the wording of the clause was quite clear in the Act, music companies had tried to create an impression that the section didn't apply to digital music services. With this clarification, DIPP has clarified that section applies to all broadcasters including digital music services.

Government's clarification on the issue of intellectual property right will bring major relief to services such as Gaana and Saavn, and will encourage them to renew commitment to their struggling businesses. Dhingana, another service, which was acquired by global giant Pandora, was shut down after being unable to fund music royalties.

In digital streaming, most music services are losing money. Their royalty payments have grown by over 500% in the last 4 years, with built-in minimum guarantees to the labels. Digital broadcasters' revenues, however, have grown modestly as the business is taking the time to develop. Labels also made restrictions on how their music was used, initially offering the web but not mobile rights, limiting how consumers could consume content, and restricting what partnerships digital music services could use.

Trademark vs. Copyright vs. Patent.

Whenever the subject of intellectual property comes up the confusion between the copyright and patent and trademark also gets stirred. Let’s take a closer look at all of them and try to clear the confusion.

What is Copyright?

A copyright is used to protect a creative work. This includes writing, music, video, art, and the like. Copyright exists as soon as you create the creative work and does not need to be applied for, although you can go through various processes to document your copyright. Copyright technically has a finite duration, but at this point, it may as well be infinite—whenever Disney's original works are about to lose copyright they lobby congress and the duration is extended. At this point, it's over a century in most cases.

What is Patent?

A patent is used to protect an invention. You must apply for a patent for it to be valid. Patents let you prevent others from making your invention. Note that one object may be covered by two patents and that those two patents may be held by different people. In this case, both people could prevent the other from building that object. Exclusive right to sell an invention, which is a creative idea reduced to physical practice.  Also found in genes, medicines, and software because there are ways to describe them that reduce to physical practice. Allows you to bar others from selling or using the same invention or demand fees.

What is Trademark?

A trademark is a defining symbol that customers associate with your product. Trademarks don't have a set duration, but you have to defend them. If the company that owns "Kleenex" allows all tissue manufacturers to casually refer to their products as "Kleenexes" then they lose their rights to the exclusive use of that name. Thus, they aggressively defend this name. Same with words like "Coke," "Frisbee," and "Slinky." You may formally register trademarks, but this is not a necessary step.

Trademarks let you prevent others from selling products with markings similar enough to yours that a typical customer would confuse their product for yours.