Copyright Law in India extends artists and creators from the unauthorized reproduction of their work. If you are an artist/creator/software developer etc., then you have a moral and legally enforceable right of complete ownership over your work. This means you are granted the complete and sole liberty to distribute or reproduce, extend, and distribute your work. Creators and artists usually have ownership the work they create by assigning copies of their work or licensing them. The artist is able to authorise the use of their creative work by signing the signing of an Agreement of Copyright License or an Agreement of Copyright Assignment. Let’s look at what these terms are.
Agreement of Copyright License: Under an Agreement of Copyright License, the owner of the copyrighted work (creator/artist/owner by contract) can allow another person or an enterprise (such as a buyer of the product or a production house like T-Series) to legally use the copyrighted work. The person who is granted this license is able to utilize the copyrighted work in any manner they want as long as the use is compatible and conforms to the conditions and terms of the Agreement. The person who created the work typically receives a payment in lieu of permission to use the copyrighted work. This type of license could be exclusive, which means that only the party that the Agreement was signed can be granted the right to make use of the License or, the License could be non-exclusive where the person who is granted the license may also give exclusive licenses to other individuals to use the copyrighted material. The Copyright License Agreement will typically define the period of the license. Therefore, it’s not a lifetime license. However, it is susceptible to extension, revocation or termination in accordance with the terms agreed upon by the parties in writing. The Agreement must also describe the work protected by copyright in full. The parties involved must be clearly identified within the Agreement. Furthermore, the rights that are licensed must be clearly stated in order to avoid any future disputes. License is granted to current and future work.
In addition to Voluntary License (as stated above) in addition, the Copyright Act of 1957 also permits Compulsory Licensing. Compulsory Licensing refers to the mandatory licensing of one’s work in the interests of the public.
Agreement for Copyright Assignment: A Copyright Assignment Agreement is distinct from Licensing Agreement in a variety of crucial ways. It’s a partial authorization to use the copyright , and the conditions stipulated must be adhered to with a strictness as any unauthorized acts could be considered to be infringement of the copyright that belong to the owner. The goal for Copyright Assignment is to allow the owner of the copyright to reach greater audience for his artistic work. In most cases, a creator, or artist may not have the resources or the manpower required to increase the reach of their work. In this case it is possible to contract an agency or distributor of his work, like publishing houses, or a music company such as T-Series or. This is a copyright assignment in that the assignee does not have ownership rights over the work of art and only has specific rights to use the work in accordance with the terms set forth within the Copyright Assignment Agreement. Today, artists use the combination of the two when they sign Copyright Transfer agreements. But, it should be remembered that in any situation, it is essential to be clear and concisely stating the rights to transfer to the other third party. For example, assigning publishing rights for literary works shouldn’t be interpreted as the assignment of rights to turn the book into a film. If allowed that way, the artist could be unable to make profits he earned from his work. For example the comic book creator should be able to generate money if a corporation decides to produce plastic figures of characters that he has created from his own comic. In this case you must sign a copyright assignment contract and not a license agreement.
A Copyright Assignment Agreement can be used for five consecutive years provided that it is not specifically stated in the contract.
It is the obligation of the artist or Creator to safeguard his copyrighted work and to take care of it. Check out our article on Copyright Law in India to learn more about the rights of Creators and obligations in more the smallest detail.
