Advantages of Copyright Registration in India

The term ‘copyright protection’ refers to the monopoly approved to authors by copyright law for exclusive use or reproduction.  Similar to trademark registration with the Trademark Registrar, copyright can also be registered with the Copyright Office to enjoy legal protection in a copyright-able work.  

A copyright is made available in a routine fashion to the author immediately when some creative form of expression is produced in a tangible medium.

Nevertheless, there are some important benefits of registering your work and availing of protection services as follows:

1. 1. 1. Copyright protection creates a public record of the ownership by copyright holder.
      2. Copyright protection enables the holder of the copyright to take legal action against infringers in a court.
      3. If the legal action is taken before or within a certain period from the date of publication, it enables adequate evidence in court relating to the validity of the copyright and the facts that are stated in the certificate of copyright.
      4. If registration is made within a short span of time the person’s work or at any time prior to the infringement of the copyrighted work, the copyright owner is permitted to claim statutory damages in a high court. Without the process registration, only an award related to actual damages and profits will be made available, and these can be quite complicated to prove in a court of law.
      5. Permits the copyright owner to record the registration with Indian Customs to help in protection against the importation of infringing copies into India.
      6. Copyright protection provides a very important motivation for the creation of several intellectual works. Devoid of copyright protection, it would be simple for others to take advantage of these works without paying any royalties or remuneration to the title-holder of the work.  Copyright therefore encourages enterprise and enables an encouraging climate to motivate economic activity.
      7. Copyright protection renders benefits in the form of economic rights which entitles the creators to exercise control over use of their literary and artistic material in various ways such as producing copies, performing in public, broadcasting,  use on-line/on the internet, etc. and to avail an appropriate economic reward.
      8. Copyright protection enables creators to consequently be rewarded for their originality and venture.
      9. Copyright also enables moral rights to be identified as the creator or the author of definite kinds of material (known as the paternity right), and raise objection to the distortion and mutilation of the right.  An author’s right to object to the adaptation or   derogatory action in relation to his or her work is referred to as an integrity right.
      10. Registration and entitlement to copyright will display the validity of your copyright if it is registered within a period of five years of publication.  This can help avert future challenges to your works related rights.
      11. One can use, reuse and reproduce the copies and can sell the copies of the work that is copyrighted.
      12. One can deal in the imports or exports of whole or part of the work with copyright protection.
      13. One is liberated to create any derivative work from the copyrighted work.
      14. One can openly exhibit his work with copyright protection.
      15. One can sell or pass on the rights of the work to the other person with copyright protection.
      16. One can deal in transmitting or the display of work by radio or video with copyright protection.