Copyright Registration Services in Puducherry (Pondicherry) - advantages, limitations, process, timelines, fees

Looking for Copyright for your original work in Puducherry (Pondicherry), find here the procedure, fees, documents required and other necessary details. Also find the scope of copyright and what protection you may expect from the same.

The Copyright in Puducherry (Pondicherry) can be registered as per The Copyright Act, 1957 of constitution of India. The Copyright Act, 1957 (the ‘Act’) came into effect from January 1958 and got amended subsequently in the year 1983, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1999 and 2012. Out of all those amendments, the most substantial is the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 that brought the Act in conformity with two WIPO internet treaties concluded in 1996 namely, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (“WCT”) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (“WPPT”).

Few important amendments to the Copyright Act in 2012 remained the extension of copyright protection in the digital environment including stiff penalties for circumvention of technological protection measures and rights management information, and liability of internet service provider and introduction of statutory licenses for cover versions and broadcasting organizations; ensuring right to receive royalties for authors, and music composers, exclusive economic and moral rights to performers, equal membership rights in copyright societies for authors and other right owners and exception of copyrights for physically disabled to access any works.

What is a Copyright?

Copyright is nothing but a legal right entitled to the creators of all kinds of artistic works be it literature, music, dramatics or the producers of films and recordings in Puducherry (Pondicherry). By registering for a Copyright, a Proprietor obtains an exclusive right to replicate, reproduce and distribute the work of art. The Proprietor can also beat the authority to reproduce, replicate and distribute the work to another person or entity.

Copyright Registration in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

Situated on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, as high as 90% of the total land is used for agriculture in Puducherry. Rice, bajra , ragi and pulses are the major food crops that are grown in Puducherry along with various cash crops such as cotton, sugarcane and groundnuts.

Puducherry, being a former French colony, witnesses a prominent presence of French culture. Puducherry is located about 135 km from Chennai and has a minor port between two major ports of Chennai and Tuticorin. Pennaiyar and Gingee are the major rivers in the region. A lighthouse has been identified by Ministry of Shipping to be developed for its initiative on Lighthouse Tourism. Tourism and Agriculture are major sectors contributing to the GDP of Puducherry. More than 35% of the population the UT of Puducherry depends on agriculture and allied activities. In terms of tourism figures, nearly 1.8 Mn tourist visited Puducherry in 2018

Puducherry also has mineral deposits of clay, limestone, phosphate rocks, lignite laterite and canker. Chemicals, leather, textiles, light engineering, electronics, metals, food processing and tourism and food processing are some of the major industries in Puducherry. Puducherry has the presence of over 1,700 industrial units producing chemicals and chemical-based products. Leather products are the largest exported item from the region. 61,700 MT of untapped marine resources offer a huge investment opportunity for marine products processing plants and packaged marine products.

Not only this, as per the latest report by World Bank, Puducherry ranked 27th out of 36 states in terms of ease of doing business.

Different types of Copyright infringements in in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

In India, different types of copyrights infringements may be considered as criminal offense, few of them are stated as follows.

• Creating infringed copies of original work for the purpose of distribution through renting or selling
• Distributing infringed copies for some consideration i.e cash or kind
• Publicaly displaying the infringed copies or original work without the consent of copyright owner
• Import/Export of infringed copies of original work

Advantages of Copyright Registration in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

Registering for copyright is a great step ahead in any business because it helps you communicate better to your customers, reproduce rights and have more control over your content. Here are a few more reasons as to why you should get your copyright registration done in Puducherry (Pondicherry) as follows.

• Public Record of Ownership – Once any piece of work gets copyrighted, it means that now it is registered on a public record, thus having established ownership.
• Copyright Infringement – In case of copyright infringement, the original owners can sue infringers to make sure their work is secure and claim for the statutory damages as it has the protection of law.
• Prevents Import of Duplicates – Once the copyright is registered, the owners can record the registration with the Indian customs and make sure that imports of duplicate copies of various products are prevented.
• Copyright Transfer – The original owner of the copyright can pass on or sell the copyright to a third party without any objections.
• Commercial Use of Derivatives – The derivatives or by products of the original registered copy can be used for commercial purposes too.
• Provides Protection – With copyright protection, the owners are enabled to exhibit their work without any anxiety of theft.

Detailed process of Copyright Registration in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

Copyright registration in Puducherry (Pondicherry) is a detailed process which can be scaled in the following steps:

Step 1 – The application mentioning the details for copyright registration needs to be filed in the concerned forms with the Copyright Registrar. Separate copyright applications may have to be filed depending on the type of work or business you do. Our representatives will ask you for some basic details necessary for getting your copyright. You have to send us 3 copies of your work and a few signed documents as well as an authorization letter by email. In case your work is unpublished, 2 copies of your manuscript have to be submitted so that one copy is returned to the applicant ( you) with seal and the other will be retained confidential at the Copyright office. There is also the option of sending in extracts of the manuscripts in place of the entire unpublished copy.

Step 2 – The next step is for the Advocate under whose name the Power of Attorney is executed to submit the application with the duly signed forms by the applicant. After that our experts will draw up the copyright registration applicant and submit it with the Registrar of Copyrights online.

Step 3 – Once the submission of the application is done online, the Diary Number will be issued.

Step 4 – Once you get your Diary Number, you have to sit through a waiting period of 30 days within which time frame the Copyright Examiner will check your application for any potential discrepancies or objections by third parties.

Step 5 – In case of any discrepancies or objections found in the applicant, a discrepancy notice will be issued. A reply has to be compiled within 30 days from the date of issuance of the discrepancy notice and submitted.

Step 6 – After the removal of the discrepancy or in case there isn’t any discrepancy in the first place, the copyright will be registered and the Copyright Office will issue the Extracts of Register of Copyrights (ROC) which is nothing but the Registration Certificate.

List of Documents Required for Copyright Registration in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

The personal details required are as follows:

• Name, nationality and address of the applicant.
• Name, nationality and address of the original author of the work.
• The nature of the applicant’s interest in getting the copyright. ( details of whether the applicant is the author or the representative of the author)
• 3 copies of the original work.
• Identity Proof of the owner.
• Incorporation Certificate in case of a business.

The details required about the nature of work are as follows:

• Class and description of the work.
• Language of the work.
• Title of the work.
• Date of Publication – Publication in internal magazines, like a research paper submitted to a professor or a magazine doesn’t count as a publication. ( Please note that it is not necessary for getting the copyright of unpublished work)

Documents required for Copyright registration of Art Work in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

1. Two copies of the Art work.
2. Applicable fees (as per work) in the form of DD or PO
3. No Objection certificate form Author, where applicant is different from the author.
4. No Objection certificate from Publisher, where publisher is different from the applicant.
5. Search Certificate from the Trademark Office (TM -60), where art work is being used on the certain goods or capable of being used as such.
6. No Objection Certificate from the individual whose photograph appears on the work.
7. A specified Power of Attorney in original, where the application is being filed through an attorney

Documents required for Copyright registration of Cinematograph Film /Video in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

1. Two copies of Video/ work to be protected through copyright
2. Applicable fees (as per work) in the form of DD or PO
3. No Objection certificate form Author, where applicant is different from the author.
4. No Objection Certificate from different copyright holders or copy of the agreement (deed of assignment)
5. No Objection certificate from Publisher, where publisher is different from the applicant.
6. No Objection Certificate from the individual who appears in the video.
7. A specified Power of Attorney in original, where the application is being filed through an attorney

Documents required for Copyright registration of Music in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

1. Two copies of work or graphical notes
2. Applicable fees (as per work) in the form of DD or PO
3. No Objection certificate form Author, where applicant is different from the author.
4. No Objection certificate from Publisher, where publisher is different from the applicant.
5. A specified Power of Attorney in original, where the application is being filed through an attorney

Documents required for Copyright registration of Literary/Dramatics in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

1. Two copies of work or script
2. Applicable fees (as per work) in the form of DD or PO
3. No Objection certificate form Author, where applicant is different from the author.
4. No Objection certificate from Publisher, where publisher is different from the applicant.
5. A specified Power of Attorney in original, where the application is being filed through an attorney

Documents required for Copyright registration of Sound recordings in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

1. Two copies of work or graphical notes
2. Applicable fees (as per work) in the form of DD or PO
3. No Objection certificate form Author, where applicant is different from the author.
4. No Objection certificate from Publisher, where publisher is different from the applicant.
5. A specified Power of Attorney in original, where the application is being filed through an attorney

Documents required for Copyright registration of Software in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

1. Two copies of work or source code or object code for verification
2. Applicable fees (as per work) in the form of DD or PO
3. No Objection certificate form Author, where applicant is different from the author.
4. No Objection certificate from Publisher, where publisher is different from the applicant.
5. A specified Power of Attorney in original, where the application is being filed through an attorney

The Scope of Copyright Protection in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

The Copyright Act, 1957 is in place to prevent the unauthorised use of any original artistic work be it literary, musical, dramatics, sound or video recordings. It is possible for both published as well as unpublished pieces of work to have a copyright protection, and the copyright of the original work remains with the original creator. In fact, the work that was published before 21st January, 1958 , i e before the Copyright Act came into existence can also have a registered copyright.

The copyright protection of original artistic pieces of work lasts throughout the entire lifetime of an author/ owner/ creator. On top of that, the copyright also lasts for another 60 years counted from the year following the death of the author. In the case of sound recordings, films, photographs, anonymous and pseudonymous publications, posthumous publications, government works and works of international organisations also have the scope of copyright protection.

India is a signatory of the Berne convention and so any copyright registered in India gets the status of foreign work and protection extended to countries which are also signatories of the Berne convention.

List of Rights of the Copyright Beneficial Owner in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

The Indian Copyright Act 1957 ensures that the economic, legal as well as social interests of the copyright owner is protected at all costs. Under the Copyright Act, the exclusive rights that the owner gets are as follows:

Right of Reproduction

Under the protection of the Copyright Act, any piece of work cannot be reproduced or made copies of, in part or whole, without the permission of the copyright owner. This restricts the blatant copying of songs, videos or anything with a recording device.

Right of Adaptation

Under the protection of the copyright act, the owner of the work can use their piece of work the way they want. Derivatives of the original work and we created as well as a new work in a different format which is inspired or based on the existing creation can also be created. The copyright act defines the following actions as adaptation:

• The conversion of movies plays dramatic work or choreographic shows into literary or non-dramatic work such as novels poems and books
• The conversion of artistic and literary work such as photography drawings paintings sculpture et cetera into forms of dramatic work
• A Pictorial Description of the original work
• The alteration Of the non-dramatic and dramatic work
• The transcription of a musical piece

Right of communication to the public

The copyright act also gives exclusive rights to the copyright owner to broadcast the original work to the public. They are allowed to do this by wireless diffusion in any form of visual images or signs.

Right of paternity and integrity – The right of paternity means that the owner can claim the sole authorship over the piece of work and anyone who wishes to adapt or reproduce the original work has to give the author the due credit. In case there is a failure in giving out the due credit to the author is at liberty to file a legal suit against the unauthorised maker. The right of integrity means that any individual who mutilates or distorts the original work of the copyright owner may have to pay for damages which can be claimed by the owner. This is because such acts can cause loss of reputation to the original creation and its creator.

Right of distribution

Under the copyright act the copyright holder gets exclusive rights to distribute the work in any form they like be it selling, reproducing , lending or leasing. In fact it is also possible to transfer certain rights to another person to use the copyright in part or whole with subject specific limitations.

Online Copyright Registration Process in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

Register on the Copyright Division website on the given link https://copyright.gov.in/UserRegistration/frmLoginPage.aspx

Enter your valid User ID and Password to login. Please keep a note of User ID and Password for future use.

Post login, click on to link “Click for online Copyright Registration”.

The online “Copyright Registration Form” is to be filled up in four steps

1. 1. Complete the Form XIV, then press SAVE button to Save entered details, and press Step 2 to move to Next Step.
   2. Signature to be scanned in 512 KB and kept ready for uploading.
   3. Fillup the Statement of Particulars, and then press SAVE button to Save entered details, and press Step 3/4 to move to Next step
   4. Fillup the Statement of Further particulars. This form is applicable for “LITERARY/ DRAMATIC, MUSICAL, ARTISTIC AND SOFTWARE” works, and then press SAVE button to Save entrered details, and press Step 4 to move to Next Step.
   5. Make the payment through Internet Payment gateway

After successful submission of the form, Diary Number will be generated (Please note it for future reference).

Artistic Work to be uploaded in pdf/jpg/png format or Literary/Dramatic Work to be uploaded in pdf format, less than 5 MB, keep ready.

Please take 1 hard copy (print) of “Acknowledgement Slip” and 1 hard copy (print) of “Copyright Registration Form”, and send it by post on the address given below

Timelines for Copyright Registration Process in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

First 3 Working days – In the first three working days, you will have to provide basic details based on the work that you want to copyright to our representatives. You also have to submit a few documents including copies of your content on a CD and signed authorisation letter which we will email to you.

Next 2 working days – Once you have submitted all the documents, our experts will draft the application. After that they will submit all the necessary forms with the application to the registrar of copyrights in the office in Delhi online.

Next 12 months – Once the copyright application is completed and you will receive a diary number. The registration will take 12 months from the date of issuance of the diary number. If there are any discrepancies or errors found in the application clarifications may be asked to make by the authorities. Error on the owner side cost Rs.1500. Representatives of our company will be in touch with you to inform and update you in case any issue arises.

Our team of experts and lawyers will constantly provide you with legal advice and support right from the beginning of filing the application by collecting all the details and drafting the application on your behalf. We will update you constantly throughout the waiting period as well so you do not have to be anxious about the process at all. The entire process will be done online so you don’t have to follow up with the government authorities even in case of any discrepancies.

The Contact details for Copyright division is as under

Copyright Division
Department For Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Boudhik Sampada Bhawan,
Plot No. 32, Sector 14, Dwarka, New Delhi-110078
Email Address: copyright[at]nic[dot]in
Telephone No.: 011-28032496