B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 Intellectual Property Rights II 2019 Jun Question Paper with Solutions

For full marks, cover: the Act's origin (replacing the 1914 Act; in force 21 January 1958), its major amendments (1983, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2012; the Finance Act, 2017; the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021; the Jan Vishwas Acts, 2023 and 2026) and its fifteen chapters; the main features chapter by chapter: definitions (Chapter I), the Copyright Office and the Board's history (Chapter II), what copyright is and where it subsists (Chapter III), ownership and dealings (Chapter IV), term (Chapter V), licences (Chapter VI), copyright societies (Chapter VII), broadcasters' and performers' rights (Chapter VIII), international copyright (Chapter IX), registration (Chapter X), infringement and exceptions (Chapter XI), civil remedies (Chapter XII), offences (Chapter XIII), appeals (Chapter XIV), moral rights and other matters (Chapter XV); an overall assessment; Indian Performing Right Society v. Eastern India Motion Pictures Association, Azure Hospitality, Gramophone, Knit Pro.

The main features, chapter by chapter

Chapter I: definitions (sections 1 to 8). It defines the key terms, such as adaptation, artistic work, author, cinematograph film and communication to the public. Computer programme, the classes of work, performer, sound recording and "work" are defined too. "Publication" means making a work available to the public by issue of copies or communication (section 3).

Chapter II: the Copyright Office (sections 9 and 10). The Copyright Office, under the Registrar of Copyrights, keeps the Register and handles registration. The Copyright Board of sections 11 and 12 was merged into the Appellate Board in 2017 and abolished in 2021. Its work now lies with the Commercial Courts and the High Courts.

Chapter III: copyright and its subject matter (sections 13 to 16).

1. Copyright subsists in original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematograph films and sound recordings (section 13).
2. It is a bundle of exclusive rights, different for each class of work (section 14).

Held. A producer who commissions music for valuable consideration is first owner of it as part of the film. The composer keeps it for uses outside the film. The 2012 amendment has since strengthened composers' rights.

Chapter V: term (sections 22 to 29). Generally the author's life plus sixty years. Sixty years from publication applies to anonymous and posthumous works, films, sound recordings, Government works, works of public undertakings and works of international organisations.

Chapter VI: licences (sections 30 to 32B). Voluntary licences in writing (section 30). Compulsory licences for withheld, orphan and unpublished works and for the disabled (sections 31 to 31B). Statutory licences for cover versions and broadcasting (sections 31C and 31D). Translation and reproduction licences for developing-country needs (sections 32 to 32B).

Chapter VII: copyright societies (sections 33 to 36A). The business of issuing licences for works must be carried on only through a registered copyright society. Societies publish tariffs, which may be challenged before the Commercial Court (section 33A). They distribute fees among members and are accountable to them.

Chapter X: registration (sections 44 to 50A). A Register of Copyrights is kept, and registration is optional. Entries are prima facie evidence (section 48). The High Court may rectify the Register (section 50).

Chapter XI: infringement and exceptions (sections 51 to 53A).

1. Infringement is doing a reserved act without licence, or dealing in infringing copies (section 51).
2. A long list of acts is not infringement: fair dealing, education, libraries, the disabled, news and many more (section 52).
3. The owner may have infringing imports detained by customs (section 53).
4. Artists and authors of manuscripts share in resale prices of their originals (section 53A).

Gramophone Company of India Ltd. v. Birendra Bahadur Pandey, AIR 1984 SC 667. Cassettes said to be pirated arrived at Calcutta port in transit to Nepal.

Held. Goods brought into India even in transit are "imported", so the border remedy under section 53 as it then stood applied. Section 53 was later substituted in 2012 and now works through the Commissioner of Customs. It expressly excludes goods in transit (section 53(2)).

Chapter XIV: appeals (sections 71 to 73). Orders of a Magistrate on seized copies may be appealed (section 71). Appeals from the Registrar of Copyrights lie to the High Court within three months (section 72, as substituted in 2021).

Chapter XV: miscellaneous (sections 74 to 79). The Registrar has a civil court's powers to summon witnesses and take evidence (section 74). His orders for money are executable as decrees (section 75). Action in good faith is protected (section 76). The Central Government makes rules, now the Copyright Rules, 2013 (section 78).

Overall assessment

The Act balances the interests of authors, producers, users and the public. It gives broad rights and strong remedies, offset by wide exceptions, compulsory and statutory licences, and collective licensing. Repeated amendments have kept it in line with Berne, TRIPS and the WIPO internet treaties. The open problems are digital piracy, the status of collecting bodies, and the absence of a specialised tribunal since 2021.