Author: Abhinav Gaur, Research Associate<\/b><\/p>\n
It was in the eighteenth century that a view that an author of the work shall have an exclusive copyright in his work which he has come up with using his own intelligence and creativity. Since, before the eighteenth century the publishers considered themselves under a major risk as they acquired work from the author and did its printing and publishing. This was time which led to a huge conflict on the concept of ownership and authorship of a work ((W.R. Cornish, \u201cIntellectual Property: Patents, Copyright, Trade Marks and Allied Marks,\u201d (Delhi: Universal Law Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., 2003), 2nd Indian Reprint, at 297.)). Then statutory rights were made available to the author of the work to protect his rights and creations, vested in his work.<\/p>\n
In India, the copyright in differentworks has been given to its creators bylaw governing the copyright. After independence of India, the Copyright Act of 1957 confers copyright or an ‘exclusive right’ to the author of the work. The Act explicitly provides that no copyright exists in any work, other than provided in the Copyright Act ((Section 16 of the Copyright Act, 1957)).<\/p>\n
Copyright is a very distinct and unique kind of intellectual property right as it is produced out of a human intellect and comes into existence as soon as it is created. The copyright law does not require that the intellectual investment in a work must necessarily be absolutely original; rather, the standard of originality required for copyright is low ((Jagdish Prasad Gupta v. Parmeshwar Prasad Singh, AIR 1966 Pat. 1965.)).” The primary function of copyright law is to protect the fruits of man’s work, labor, skill or test from annexation by the other people ((Sulamanglam R. Jayalakshmi v. Meta Musical (AIR 2000 Mad. 454).)). There can be no copyright in an idea, subject matter, themes, plot or historical facts ((R. G. Anand v. Delux Films (AIR 1978 SC 1613).)), but it\u2019s the expression which is of greater value.<\/p>\n
It is not just the economic safeguard against a property or material that is important for any author but also such person\u2019s own moral rights and reputation in society that is more important than any materialistic consideration.<\/p>\n
Justice Nandrajog has very beautifully said in a very prominent judgment ((Amar NathSehgalvs Union Of India (Uoi) And Anr., 2005 (30) PTC 253 Del)), \u201cIn the material world, laws are geared to protect the right to equitable remuneration. But life is beyond the material. It is temporal as well. Many of us believe in the soul. Moral Rights of the author are the soul of his works. The author has a right to preserve, protect and nurture his creations through his moral rights<\/i>\u201d.<\/p>\n
Author\u2019s special rights ((P.P. Prabhakarvs Secretary, Government Of India, 1986 (2) Crimes 570, 29 (1986) DLT 248))are also known as moral rights; <\/i>these rights protect the morals and repute of an author. Section 57\u00a0of the Copyright Act, 1957 provides for what are termed as \u201cAuthor\u2019s Special Rights. Established on\u00a0Article 6bis\u00a0of the Berne Convention, moral rights have two key elements:<\/p>\n
(1) Right to claim authorship of the work (sometimes referred to as Rights of Attribution\/Paternity Rights), and;<\/p>\n
(2) Right against distortion, modification or mutilation of one\u2019s work if such distortion or mutilation would be prejudicial to the author\u2019s honor or reputation (or \u201cIntegrity Rights\u201d).<\/p>\n
The author of the work has the right to preserve and protect his moral rights. The protection guaranteed by the moral rights, yet, is different from the economic rights. Whereas the economic rights protect the economic interests of theauthor by preventing others from exploiting the work without the consent of the author, the moral rights focus on the protection of the author\u2019s personality and repute in the society he stays in.<\/p>\n
Section 57 of the Copyright Act strongly adheres to this observation and protects the moral rights along with the right of the author to claim authorship in the work, or in other words the right of paternity asAuthor\u2019s Special Rights. As amended by the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012, Section 57 gives the author of the work a right to restrain<\/i> or claim damages in respect of any distortion<\/i>, mutilation<\/i>, modification<\/i> or other act in relation to the said work.<\/p>\n
FEW JUDICIAL PRONOUNCEMENTS<\/b><\/p>\n
In the case of Wiley Eastern Ltd.v. Indian Institute of Management ((1995 PTR 53 (Del.).)), the Hon\u2019ble court held that the words \u201cAction prejudicial to his honor orreputation\u201d under Section 57 (1) (b) refers only to the author of the work and not to any other person related with the work in any manner. Section 57 is a special provision for the protection of the special rights of the author. The object of the section is to put the intellectual property on higher footing than the normal objects of copyright. Further, that the language used in Section 57 is of widest amplitude and cannot be restricted to the literary\u2019 expression only and also covers other expressions such as visual and audio manifestations, as was held in the case of Mannu Bhandariv. Kala Vikas Pictures Pvt. Ltd ((AIR 1987Del. 13)).<\/p>\n
Also, in the case of Amar Nath Sehgalv. Union of India ((2005 (30) PTC 253 Del))the issue of moral rights was substantially discussed. In this case, the plaintiff\/author assigned his copyright in a bronze mural, to the Union of India. The mural was placed in Vigyan Bhavan, but was later pulled down and dumped. The author, Amar Nath Sehgal, sued for violation of his moral rights. The court observed: \u201cThese [moral] rights are independent of the author’s copyright. They exist even after the assignment of the copyright, either wholly or partially.\u201d<\/p>\n