Enhanced Penalty and Computer Programmes

In one line

A second conviction doubles the floor, and using a pirated programme on a computer is an offence of its own with a seven day minimum.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: section 63A of the Copyright Act, 1957 provides that whoever, having already been convicted of an offence under section 63, is again convicted of any such offence shall be punishable for the second and every subsequent offence with imprisonment for a term of not less than one year extending to three years and a fine of not less than one lakh rupees extending to two lakh rupees, and section 63B provides that any person who knowingly makes use on a computer of an infringing copy of a computer programme shall be punishable with imprisonment of not less than seven days extending to three years and a fine of not less than fifty thousand rupees extending to two lakh rupees.

Why the law has these

Because a repeat pirate is a business. Somebody convicted once and caught again is not making a mistake, and the sentence should say so.

Because software piracy happens at the user's desk. The person who copied the programme may be abroad; the company running unlicensed copies on two hundred machines is here.

And because using is not obviously infringing. Loading a programme into memory is reproduction, but making that the offence would criminalise every user. Section 63B names the act instead.

Section 63A, the repeat offence

The text. "Whoever having already been convicted of an offence under section 63 is again convicted of any such offence shall be punishable for the second and for every subsequent offence, with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to three years and with fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees but which may extend to two lakh rupees."

First proviso. Where the infringement has not been made for gain in the course of trade or business, the court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose imprisonment for less than one year or a fine of less than one lakh rupees.

Second proviso. "For the purposes of this section, no cognizance shall be taken of any conviction made before the commencement of the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1984."

What changes and what does not. The maximum stays at three years and two lakh rupees; the minimum doubles from six months to one year and from fifty thousand to one lakh.

And the earlier conviction must be under section 63. A previous conviction under section 63B or section 68A does not trigger it.