Copyright Laws in India –Frequently Asked Questions

• Author(s): Dipak Rao, Sonil Singhania
• Date: 13-Mar-2019
• Post in: Copyright

Legislation and regulation

What are the main sources of copyright law?

The Copyright Act 1957 (the Act), supported by the Copyright Rules 1958 (the Rules), is the governing law for copyright protection in India. Substantial amendments were carried out to the Copyright Act in 2012. India follows a common law legal system, so relies on case law to interpret and set precedents in law and so the judicial decisions contribute to the sources of copyright law in India. India is a member of the Berne Conventions and Universal Copyright Convention. The Government of India has also passed the International Copyright Order, 1999. According to this Order, any work first published in any country that is a member of any of the above conventions is granted the same treatment as if it was first published in India.

Subsistence of copyright

Ownership

Infringement

Remedies

Enforcement

Copyright Reform