Copyrights Registration Coimbatore
[4th June, 1957]
An Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to copyright.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Eighth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent and commencement.— (1) This Act may be called the Copyright Act, 1957.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Interpretation.— In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “adaptation” means,-
(i) in relation to a dramatic work, the conversion of the work into a non-dramatic work;
(ii) in relation to a literary work or an artistic work, the conversion of the work into a dramatic work by way of performance in public or otherwise;
(iii) in relation to a literary or dramatic work, any abridgement of the work or any version of the work in which the story or action is conveyed wholly or mainly by means of pictures in a form suitable for reproduction in a book, or in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical;
(iv) in relation to a musical work, any arrangement or transcription of the work; and
(v) in relation to any work, any use of such work involving its rearrangement or alteration;
(aa) “Appellate Board” means the Appellate Board referred to in section 11;
(b) “work of architecture” means any building or structure having an artistic character or design, or any model for such building or structure;
(c) “artistic work” means,—
(i) a painting, a sculpture, a drawing (including a diagram, map, chart or plan), an engraving or a photograph, whether or not any such work possesses artistic quality;
(ii) a work of architecture; and
(iii) any other work of artistic craftsmanship;
(d) “author” means, —
(i) in relation to a literary or dramatic work, the author of the work;
(ii) in relation to a musical work, the composer;
(iii) in relation to an artistic work other than a photograph, the artist;
(iv) in relation to a photograph, the person taking the photograph
CHAPTER II
COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND APPELLATE BOARD
9. Copyright Office.—(1) There shall be established for the purposes of this Act an office to be called the Copyright Office.
(2) The Copyright Office shall be under the immediate control of the Registrar of Copyrights who shall act under the superintendence and direction of the Central Government.
(3) There shall be a seal for the Copyright Office.
10. Registrar and Deputy Registrar of Copyrights.—(1) The Central Government shall appoint a Registrar of Copyrights and may appoint one or more Deputy Registrars of Copyrights.
(2) A Deputy Registrar of Copyrights shall discharge under the superintendence and direction of the Registrar of Copyrights such functions of the Registrar under this Act as the Registrar may, from time to time, assign to him; and any reference in this Act to the Registrar of Copyrights shall include a reference to a Deputy Registrar of Copyrights when so discharging any such functions.
11. Appellate Board.—(1) The Appellate Board established under section 83 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (47 of 1999) shall, on and from the commencement of Part XIV of Chapter VI of the Finance Act, 2017 (7 of 2017), be the Appellate Board for the purposes of this Act and the said Appellate Board shall exercise the jurisdiction, powers and authority conferred on it by or under this Act.
12. Powers and procedure of Appellate Board.— (1) The Appellate Board shall, subject to any rules that may be made under this Act, have power to regulate its own procedure, including the fixing of places and times of its sittings:
Provided that the Appellate Board shall ordinarily hear any proceeding instituted before it under this Act within the zone in which, at the time of the institution of the proceeding, the person instituting the proceeding actually and voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain.
Explanation.— In this sub-section “zone” means a zone specified in section 15 of the States Re organization Act, 1956 (37 of 1956).
(2) The Appellate Board may exercise and discharge its powers and functions through Benches constituted by the Chairman of the Appellate Board from amongst its members:
Provided that, if the Chairman is of opinion that any matter of importance is required to be heard by a larger bench, he may refer the matter to a special bench consisting of five members.
(5) No member of the Appellate Board shall take part in any proceedings before the Board in respect of any matter in which he has a personal interest.
(6) No act done or proceeding taken by the Appellate Board under this Act shall be questioned on the ground merely of the existence of any vacancy in, or defect in the constitution of, the Board.
(7) The Appellate Board shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of sections 345 and 346 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and all proceedings before the Board shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code.
