KSLU Solved Question Papers
Intellectual Property Rights II
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 10
2015 Dec Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 Intellectual Property Rights II 2015 Dec Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2015 Dec examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2015 Dec examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2015 Dec examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 13 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1Define Copyright. What are the main features of a Copyright.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the definition (section 14: the exclusive right to do or authorise certain acts in a work or a substantial part of it); the characteristics, each with its provision and an authority: (1) a creature of statute (section 16); (2) a bundle of exclusive rights that differ by class of work (section 14(a) to (e)); (3) protection of expression, not ideas (R.G. Anand); (4) originality, not novelty or merit (sections 13(1), 2(c); Eastern Book Company); (5) automatic, with optional registration (sections 45, 48); (6) intangible property separate from the copy (Explanation to section 14); (7) assignable, divisible and licensable (sections 18, 19, 30; Video Master); (8) limited in time (sections 22 to 29); (9) territorial, extended abroad by order (sections 13(2), 40); (10) moral rights that survive assignment (section 57; Amar Nath Sehgal); (11) limited by exceptions and licences (sections 31 to 32B, 52; Academy of General Education); (12) enforced by civil, criminal and border remedies (sections 53, 55, 63; Knit Pro); related rights distinguished (sections 37, 38); a summary table.
Definition
Section 14 of the Copyright Act, 1957 defines copyright as an exclusive right. It is the right to do, or authorise the doing of, certain acts in a work or any substantial part of it. The acts are listed for each class of work. For a literary work they include reproducing it, issuing copies, and performing and communicating it. They also include making a film or recording of it, and translating and adapting it.
From this definition and the rest of the Act, copyright has the following characteristics.
1. It is a creature of statute
"No person shall be entitled to copyright ... otherwise than under and in accordance with" the Act (section 16). There is no copyright at common law in India. A claim that falls outside the Act's classes fails, though the law of confidence may still protect secret material.
2. It is a bundle of exclusive rights
Copyright is not one right but a set of rights, and the set differs by class of work (section 14(a) to (e)). A sound recording carries the rights to make another recording, to sell or rent copies and to communicate it. A painting carries the rights to reproduce it, including in three dimensions, and to include it in a film. Each right can be used, assigned or infringed separately. The right is also to authorise: a person who permits others to copy may be liable as well.
3. It protects expression, not ideas
R.G. Anand v. Delux Films, AIR 1978 SC 1613. A dramatist said a film on provincial prejudice copied his stage play on the same theme.
Held. The appeal failed. An idea, theme, plot or historical fact is not protected; only the form and manner of expressing it are. The test is whether a viewer of both works gets an unmistakable impression that one is a copy of the other.
So two writers may write on the same subject, and two painters may paint the same temple.
4. Originality is required, not novelty or merit
Copyright subsists only in original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works (section 13(1)(a)). An artistic work need have no artistic quality (section 2(c)).
Eastern Book Company v. D.B. Modak, AIR 2008 SC 809. A law publisher claimed copyright in its edited version of Supreme Court judgments, which a software company copied.
Held. Originality in India means skill and judgment, more than a mechanical exercise. The bare judgments carried no copyright for the publisher. Its paragraph numbering, headnotes and editorial notes did.
5. It arises automatically
Copyright exists from the moment an original work is made. No registration, notice or deposit is required. The Register of Copyrights is optional (section 45), and its entries are only prima facie evidence (section 48). This follows the Berne rule that protection is free of formalities.
6. It is intangible property, separate from the copy
Copyright is movable, intangible property. Owning a book, a painting or a disc does not give its owner the copyright. Once a copy is sold, the copyright owner cannot control its resale, because it is a copy "already in circulation" (Explanation to section 14). He still controls new reproductions.
7. It is assignable, divisible and licensable
- It may be assigned, wholly or partly, for the whole term or part of it, generally or with limits (section 18).
- An assignment must be in writing and identify the rights, term and territory. If no term is stated it is five years, and if no territory is stated it is India (section 19).
- It may be licensed by a written instrument (section 30).
- It passes on death, and a bequest of a manuscript carries its copyright (section 20).
Video Master v. Nishi Productions, 1998 (3) Bom CR 782. The producer of a film gave one buyer video and cable rights, and later gave others satellite broadcasting rights.
Held. The first buyer's suit failed. Each mode of exploiting a film is a distinct right that may be assigned to a different person. Satellite broadcasting did not infringe the video right.
8. It is limited in time
Copyright is not perpetual. Most works by individuals last for the author's life plus sixty years (section 22). Anonymous and posthumous works, films and sound recordings last sixty years from publication (sections 23 to 27). So do Government works and works of public undertakings (sections 28 and 28A). The work then enters the public domain.
9. It is territorial
Copyright under the Act is an Indian right. It covers works first published in India and unpublished works of Indian authors (section 13(2)). Foreign works are protected only because the Central Government extends the Act to them by order (section 40). The International Copyright Order, 1999 does this for Berne and WTO countries, among others.
10. Moral rights stay with the author
The author keeps a right to claim authorship and to restrain distortion or mutilation prejudicial to his honour or reputation (section 57). It survives even after he assigns the copyright.
Amar Nath Sehgal v. Union of India, 2005 (30) PTC 253 (Del). A sculptor's large bronze mural at a Government building was taken down and its pieces left to decay in a store.
Held. Destruction of a work of art is the extreme form of mutilation. The court ordered the remnants returned to the sculptor, declared his rights in the mural, and awarded damages.
11. It is limited by exceptions and licences
Copyright is a monopoly balanced against public interest. Section 52 lists acts that do not infringe, such as fair dealing for research, criticism and reporting, and use in teaching. Compulsory and statutory licences apply to withheld works, works for the disabled, cover versions, broadcasts and translations (sections 31 to 32B).
Academy of General Education, Manipal v. B. Malini Mallya, AIR 2009 SC 1982. The holder of the copyright in a Yakshagana ballet form obtained an injunction against an educational institution.
Held. The injunction stood but had to be read subject to section 52. Performances for research, review, instruction, or by amateurs before a non-paying audience, were outside it.
12. It is enforced by strong remedies
The owner has civil remedies: injunction, damages, accounts and delivery up (sections 55 and 58). He has border remedies through customs (section 53). Knowing infringement is a crime, with six months to three years and a fine (section 63).
Knit Pro International v. State of NCT of Delhi, Supreme Court, 20 May 2022. The question was whether the police could act on a section 63 offence without a magistrate's order.
Held. Since it is punishable with up to three years, the offence is cognizable and non-bailable.
Related rights are separate
Performers and broadcasters do not get copyright. They get separate, shorter related rights: the broadcast reproduction right for twenty-five years (section 37), and the performer's right for fifty years (section 38).
Summary
| Characteristic | Provision |
|---|---|
| Statutory only | Section 16 |
| Bundle of exclusive rights | Section 14 |
| Expression, not idea | Case law |
| Originality | Sections 2(c), 13(1) |
| Automatic | Sections 45, 48 |
| Separate from the copy | Section 14, Explanation |
| Assignable and divisible | Sections 18 to 20, 30 |
| Limited term | Sections 22 to 29 |
| Territorial | Sections 13(2), 40 |
| Moral rights | Section 57 |
| Exceptions and licences | Sections 31 to 32B, 52 |
| Remedies | Sections 53, 55, 58, 63 |
Conclusion. Copyright is the statutory, exclusive right to do and authorise the acts that section 14 reserves for each class of work. It protects original expression, not ideas, and arises automatically. It is intangible property that can be divided, assigned and licensed apart from any copy. It lasts for a limited term within India and treaty countries, and leaves the author his moral rights. It yields to fair dealing and compulsory licences, and is enforced by civil, criminal and border remedies.
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