Why in the news?
The government of Tamil Nadu has declared that the collected works of the late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi will be “Tamilnadu’s Nationalization” or openly available for anybody to copy, translate, and modify.
What’s in the article?
- Important aspects of the 1957 Copyright Act
- Copyright laws and Nationalisation of copyright
- Regarding Ambedkar’s writings
Important aspects of the 1957 Copyright Act :
Background – About Copyright
- Under Indian law, specifically Section 13 of the Copyright Act, of 1957, copyright is an intellectual property right that protects the expression of original works, including literature, music, art, films, and sound recordings.
- Copyright law protects the particular embodiment of ideas, such as books or computer programs, rather than the ideas themselves.
- Copyright confers exclusive rights on the owner under Section 14 of the Act, including the ability to modify, duplicate, publish, translate, and make the work available to the general public.
- Only the copyright owner or a person designated by them may use these rights.
- Although copyright registration adds a work’s record to the Copyright Register, it does not confer any legal rights.
Key features
• Exclusive Rights: The Act gives authors of original plays, novels, plays, music, and artwork the sole authority to print, distribute, perform, translate, and adapt their creations.
• Duration of Protection: Copyright protection is in effect for as long as the author is alive and for 60 years following their passing. (Artistic, Dramatic, Musical, or Literary Works)
The period of sixty years from the year of publication for works such as sound records, films, and pictures.
• Assignment of Rights: Under Section 18 of the Act, the owner of a copyright may assign all or a portion of those rights to another party in return for payment. This permits the owner to transfer rights for a predetermined amount of time, area, or use.
- Public Domain: Upon the expiration of the copyright term, the work becomes publicly accessible, allowing use without obtaining permission.
• Moral Rights: The Act also acknowledges the moral rights of the author, which comprise the right to assert their claim to the work’s authorship and the right to protest any alteration, mutilation, or distortion of the work that would be detrimental to their reputation.
• Infringement and Remedies: In the event of a major violation, the Act offers both criminal and civil remedies, such as fines and imprisonment, for copyright infringement, including injunctions and damages. - Fair Use Doctrine: Some uses of copyrighted content are deemed “fair use” and don’t need the owner’s consent, such as criticism, review, research, or education.
Compulsory licensing: It is a provision of the Act that permits the government to utilize a copyrighted work without the owner’s approval in certain circumstances. These situations are usually those involving the public interest.
Copyright laws and Nationalisation of copyright
Copyright laws
An author is granted several legal rights under the Copyright Act, of 1957, including the right to reproduce, issue copies, perform, adapt, or translate their work. These rights are transferred to the author’s legal heirs upon their death.
Tamilnadu’s Nationalization of Copyright
- The Tamil Virtual Academy (TVA) was established by the Tamil Nadu government in 2001 to provide online instruction in the Tamil language.
- To give the government ownership rights to certain works, the TVA collaborates with the legitimate heirs of the original copyright holders.
- After being nationalized, these works are released into the public domain and made accessible on the TVA’s free commons website, where anybody may utilize, copy, distribute, and alter them for profit without obtaining a permit.
- The Tamil Nadu government has so far nationalized the writings of 179 Tamil scholars and compensated their rightful heirs with royalties totaling Rs 14.42 crore.
Regarding Ambedkar’s Writings
- In the 1960s, the Maharashtra government received the copyright for Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s writings from Prakash Ambedkar, the doctor’s grandson.
- Following that, the state government formed a committee in 1976, and that body released the first volume of Dr. Ambedkar’s writings in 1979 as the first in a planned 22-volume series.
- The majority of Dr. Ambedkar’s works are presently owned by the Symbiosis Centre, located in Nagpur, which also oversees their translation and digitization. Prakash Ambedkar donated the copyright to the organization in 2016.
- These works are accessible online and in print. A small number of books are still owned by the Maharashtra government and are distributed by particular Pune-based organizations.
- The Maharashtra government applied for copyright in 2018 and asked that Dr Ambedkar’s writings be taken down from the Center.
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