I.INTRODUCTION

An interesting aspect of copyright is that it is acquired the moment the copyrighted work is finished or performed. The economic and moral rights are acquired instantly on such completion. It must, however, be noted that the exercise of these rights is directly related to the ownership of the copyright in question. In short, only the owner is entitled to exercise those rights. For instance, if a work has been finished under a contract for service and in the course of employment, then the ownership shall vest in the person who has hired the services of the person completing the work. In all other cases the person performing the work is the owner of the copyright irrespective of any registration formalities. Further, no one can claim an infringement of a copyright if the use of copyrighted work falls under the "fair use " category.

II.JUDICIAL RESPONSE

The ownership in copyright may vest in different persons under different circumstances.

In Eastern Book company v Navin J.Desai the question involved was whether there is any copyright in the reporting of the judgment of a court. The Delhi High court observed:
“It is not denied that under section 2(k) of the Copyright Act, a work which is made or published under the direction or control of any Court, tribunal or other judicial authority in India is a Government work. Under section 52(q), the reproduction or publication of any judgment or order of a court, tribunal or other judicial authority shall not constitute infringement of copyright of the government in these works. It is thus clear that it is open to everybody to reproduce and publish the government work including the judgment/ order of a court. However, in case, a person by extensive reading, careful study and comparison and with the exercise of taste and judgment has made certain comments about judgment or has written a commentary thereon, may be such a comment and commentary is entitled to protection under the Copyright Act”.

The court further observed:
“In terms of section 52(1)(q) of the Act, reproduction of a judgment of the court is an exception to the infringement of the Copyright. The orders and judgments of the court are in the public domain and anyone can publish them. Not only that being a Government work, no copyright exists in these orders and judgments. No one can claim copyright in these judgments and orders of the court merely on the ground that he had first published them in his book. Changes consisting of elimination, changes of spelling, elimination or addition of quotations and corrections of typographical mistakes are trivial and hence no copyright exists therein”.

In Godrej Soaps (P) Ltd v Dora Cosmetics Co the Delhi High Court held that where the carton was designed for valuable consideration by a person in the course of his employment for and on behalf of the plaintiff and the defendant had led no evidence in his favour, the plaintiff is the assignee and the legal owner of copyright in the carton including the logo.

END OF PART-IV
TO BE CONTINUED

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITH THE AUTHOR.