KSLU Solved Question Papers
Intellectual Property Rights II
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 10
2025 Jan Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 Intellectual Property Rights II 2025 Jan Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.
Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.
Passages from this volume may be quoted, in print, online or by an AI system, with credit: name munotes.in and link to this volume's page. The volume may not be reproduced as a whole. Full terms at munotes.in/content-license.
munotes.in is an independent study resource for students of Karnataka State Law University. It is not affiliated with Karnataka State Law University, and is not endorsed by it.
The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.
The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2025 Jan examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2025 Jan examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2025 Jan 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
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note/problems is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
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
Unit I
(a)'Copyright exists in expression of idea and not in idea itself'. Explain the statement in the light of subject matters of copyright.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the meaning of the statement (the idea and expression dichotomy); why the law draws the line (TRIPS article 9(2), WCT article 2, the policy of free ideas); how the Copyright Act reflects it (section 13: "original" works, fixation, section 13(5) on architecture); the statement applied to each subject matter: literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, cinematograph films, sound recordings, computer programmes, compilations; the limits (merger, stock scenes, facts); R.G. Anand, Zee Telefilms, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Eastern Book Company.
Meaning of the statement
Copyright protects the form in which an idea is expressed, not the idea itself. Anyone may use the idea of a love story across religions, a quiz show or a cure for a disease. What he may not do is copy another person's words, pictures, music or arrangement that express it. This is called the idea and expression dichotomy.
Why the line is drawn
- Free ideas. Ideas are the building blocks of all culture and science. A monopoly over an idea would stop others from creating.
- Patents protect ideas in some cases. A technical idea may be patented, but only after strict examination and for twenty years. Copyright, which arises automatically and lasts much longer, must not reach ideas.
- International rule. Article 9(2) of the TRIPS Agreement says copyright protection "shall extend to expressions and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such". Article 2 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty says the same.
How the Copyright Act reflects it
- Copyright subsists in original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works (section 13(1)(a)). Originality is judged on the expression, which must come from the author.
- Works must exist in some form: a dramatic work's acting form must be fixed in writing or otherwise (section 2(h)).
- For a work of architecture, copyright covers only its artistic character and design, not processes or methods of construction (section 13(5)).
The statement applied to the subject matters
1. Literary works. A writer's sentences, structure and selection are protected; the facts and themes are not. In a compilation, only the selection and arrangement are protected.
2. Dramatic works. The scenes, dialogue and sequence of a play are protected; the plot idea is not. Two plays on the same social theme can co-exist.
3. Musical works. The particular melody and composition are protected; a style or genre, such as a raga, is free.
4. Artistic works. A particular painting or photograph is protected. The subject, such as the Taj Mahal, is free for others to paint or photograph from their own viewpoint.
5. Cinematograph films and sound recordings. The recording itself is protected. Remaking the same story with new actors raises the question of whether the expression, not just the theme, was taken.
6. Computer programmes. The code is protected as a literary work, but not the function or the method of operation behind it (TRIPS articles 9(2) and 10(1)).
The limits of the rule
- Merger. If an idea can be expressed in only one or very few ways, protecting the expression would protect the idea. Courts then refuse protection.
- Stock scenes. Standard incidents that any story of a type needs, such as a chase in a thriller, are free.
- Facts and history. Historical events and news are free; only the author's treatment is protected.
The cases
R.G. Anand v. Delux Films, AIR 1978 SC 1613. The playwright of Hum Hindustani said the film New Delhi copied his play. Both dealt with provincialism and a marriage across regions.
Held. There is no copyright in an idea, subject matter, theme or plot. Protection is confined to the form, manner and arrangement of expression. The test is whether a viewer, after seeing both, gets the unmistakable impression that one is a copy of the other. The treatment differed, so there was no infringement.
Zee Telefilms Ltd. v. Sundial Communications Pvt. Ltd., 2003 (27) PTC 457 (Bom). Sundial gave Zee detailed concept notes for a television serial, in confidence. Zee then made a similar serial.
Held. The injunction was upheld. The concept notes were an original literary work, and Zee took the form and arrangement, not merely the idea. A developed idea, worked out in detail, can be protected as expression.
Barbara Taylor Bradford v. Sahara Media Entertainment Ltd., 2004 (28) PTC 474 (Cal). The author of a novel about a woman's rise from rags to riches sued to stop a television serial with a similar story.
Held. A broad plot of this kind is an idea, not expression. With no substantial similarity shown, the telecast was allowed.
Eastern Book Company v. D.B. Modak, AIR 2008 SC 809. A law publisher claimed copyright in its edited version of judgments.
Held. The judgments themselves carry no copyright. Only the editor's skill and judgment in paragraphing and cross-referencing is protected. The words of the court are free; the editor's expression is not.
Conclusion. The statement states the core limit of copyright law. Every kind of work, from a novel to a film to a programme, is protected only in its expression. Ideas, themes, facts and functions stay free. R.G. Anand fixes the test, and Zee Telefilms and Barbara Taylor Bradford show where a developed idea becomes protected expression and where it does not.
The rest of the answers
The first answer is free. The rest come with the KSLU B.A. LL.B. Semester 10 solved papers.
You have read the question paper and its first answer in full. Buy the solved papers once and you can read every answer of every solved paper in this semester.
Solved papers: ₹499 Already bought it? Sign in
The question paper itself stays free.
Found an error in this volume? Report it and we will check it against the paper.