KSLU Solved Question Papers
Intellectual Property Rights II
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 10
2021 Sep Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 Intellectual Property Rights II 2021 Sep 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 2021 Sep examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2021 Sep examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2021 Sep 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 80 · 20 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.
Q1
(a)What are the qualifying elements to be in existence in a work for its copyright ability.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the statutory basis (sections 13 and 16 of the Copyright Act, 1957); the qualifying elements, each explained: (1) the work falls within a protected class (section 13(1), section 2(y)); (2) originality (skill and judgment: University of London Press, Eastern Book Company); (3) expression, not idea (R.G. Anand); (4) existence in some form, with fixation for dramatic works (section 2(h)); (5) an author (section 2(d), including computer-generated works); (6) a connection with India or a treaty (sections 13(2), 40); (7) not excluded by sections 13(3), 13(5) and 15; (8) a subsisting term (sections 22 to 29) and no relinquishment (section 21); what is not required: registration, novelty, merit, publication (section 45; Sanjay Soya); a checklist.
The statutory basis
Copyright in India exists only under the Copyright Act, 1957: "No person shall be entitled to copyright ... otherwise than under and in accordance with" the Act (section 16). A work is therefore copyrightable only if it meets the conditions the Act sets. These may be called its qualifying elements.
The qualifying elements
1. It must be a "work" of a protected class. Section 13(1) lists original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematograph films and sound recordings. Section 2(y) calls these "works". Something outside the list, such as a performance, a broadcast, a title or a technique, is not a work, though some have separate rights.
2. It must be original. The first four classes must be original (section 13(1)(a)). Originality does not mean novelty or inventiveness. It means the work originates from the author and was not copied, and that making it involved more than trivial skill and judgment.
University of London Press Ltd. v. University Tutorial Press Ltd., [1916] 2 Ch 601. Examination papers set by examiners were copied by a rival.
Held. The papers were original literary works. "Original" means only that the work is not copied but originates from the author.
Eastern Book Company v. D.B. Modak, AIR 2008 SC 809. A law publisher claimed copyright in its edited judgments.
Held. India requires skill and judgment, more than mere labour but less than creativity. The publisher's paragraphing and cross-references qualified; the judgments' text did not.
Films and sound recordings need no originality, but they must not be made by infringing another work.
3. It must be expression, not a bare idea. Copyright protects the form, manner and arrangement in which an idea is expressed. Ideas, themes, facts and methods cannot be owned.
R.G. Anand v. Delux Films, AIR 1978 SC 1613. A playwright said a film used his play's theme.
Held. There is no copyright in an idea or theme, only in its expression. A different treatment of the same idea does not infringe.
4. It must exist in some form. The Act protects works, not thoughts. A literary work is written or recorded; an artistic work is drawn, painted or built. For a dramatic work, the scenic arrangement or acting form must be fixed in writing or otherwise (section 2(h)).
5. It must have an author. Every work has an author (section 2(d)). He is the writer, the composer, the artist, the photographer, or the producer of a film or sound recording. For a computer-generated work, it is the person who causes it to be created.
6. It must have a connection with India or a treaty country (section 13(2)).
- A published work must be first published in India, or its author must be an Indian citizen.
- An unpublished work needs an author who is an Indian citizen or domiciled in India.
- A work of architecture must be located in India.
Foreign works qualify through section 40 and the International Copyright Order, 1999, which extends protection to works from Berne, Universal Copyright Convention and WTO countries.
7. It must not fall within an exclusion.
- A film that infringes another work in a substantial part, or a sound recording made by infringing a work, gets no copyright (section 13(3)).
- In a work of architecture, only the artistic character and design qualify, not methods of construction (section 13(5)).
- A design registered under the Designs Act, 2000 has no copyright. An unregistered registrable design loses it after more than fifty industrial reproductions (section 15).
8. Its term must be running, and the rights not relinquished. Copyright lasts for fixed terms. The general term is the author's life plus sixty years (section 22). Anonymous and posthumous works, films, sound recordings and some others get sixty years from publication (sections 23, 24 and 26 to 29). After that the work is in the public domain. An author may also relinquish his rights by notice (section 21).
What is not required
- Registration. Copyright arises on creation. Registration is optional and only prima facie evidence (sections 45 and 48).
- Novelty or merit. An artistic work qualifies "whether or not" it has artistic quality (section 2(c)).
- Publication. Unpublished works are protected.
- A copyright notice. No formality is needed, as the Berne Convention requires.
Sanjay Soya Pvt. Ltd. v. Narayani Trading Company, Bombay High Court, 9 March 2021. A defendant argued that an unregistered artistic label carried no enforceable copyright.
Held. Registration is not mandatory for a suit for infringement. An earlier contrary Bombay decision was held per incuriam.
A checklist
| Element | Provision |
|---|---|
| A protected class of work | Sections 2(y), 13(1) |
| Originality (for authorial works) | Section 13(1)(a) |
| Expression, not idea | Case law; TRIPS article 9(2) |
| Existence in some form | Section 2(h) and the definitions |
| An author | Section 2(d) |
| An Indian or treaty connection | Sections 13(2), 40 |
| Element | Provision |
|---|---|
| No exclusion | Sections 13(3), 13(5), 15 |
| A running term, not relinquished | Sections 21 to 29 |
Conclusion. A work is copyrightable only if it belongs to a class in section 13 and is original in the sense of skill and judgment. It must be an expression rather than an idea, existing in some form. It must have an author and an Indian or treaty connection, fall outside the exclusions, and be within its term. No registration, novelty, merit, publication or notice is needed.
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