Copyrighted content is a content on which owner has the exclusive right over the work. To need this protection, one has to undergo with the copyright registration Process. It is regulated by the Copyright Act, 1957. Copyright Registration grants the right to the creators of Literary, Artistic, Dramatic and Musical and the producers of cinematographic films and sound recording.
How to identify the owner of the copyrighted Product?
As we all know that copyright protection is only given to those people who have made or created original work of their own. It is therefore always advisable for every person who is willing to copyright their product is to always take expert advice regarding their product who can help them in a better way.
How to use Copyrighted Content?
Now you must be thinking that whether you require the permission to use Copyrighted content or not. Then let us inform you that you may come across either of the cases-
- There are basically two instances of using a copyrighted content- when prior permission is required to use a copyrighted content.
- When no permission is required.
- Cases where no Permission is required-
- If the copyrighted content is already in the public domain, then anyone can use it without any prior permission. Public domain means that the owner has not taken copyright protection from the Registry, therefore it is open for everyone to use the Copyrighted content.
- Whenever work is released under open License, For example, creative commons, then that work can be used by anyone, as long as you comply with the terms of their copyright License.
- There is no need to get permission from the owner of the work if that work falls under the category of fair use. It may be a tricky business, therefore it is always advisable to take some expert advice on these issues.
2. Cases when permission is required-
- We all are creating copyrightable content knowingly or unknowingly. For eg. by writing an email, blogs, clicking a selfie etc. finding a copyright owner may become a tricky business. Now let’s take a look, what needs to be at the time of finding the copyright owner.
- Whether the creator of the work is alive or not, to use their product it is mandatory to take their permission before using the copyrighted content.
- If the creator of the copyright has already assigned or transfer the wok to someone else like a record label, publisher or created work as a part of their job, then you need to contact the entity. You could always contact the licensing department to seek permission.
- There are certain organizations, to which the creator of the work can subscribe to get royalties on their work. These organizations are known as Performing Rights Organization (PRO) and Reproduction Rights Organizations (RRO). PROs deal with the publicly related work on the national level, such s music. RROs deal with the work such as technical, medical and cultural work on the national and international level.
- If the author of the work dies then it is automatically transferred to the legal heir of the creator. But it is not easy to track down the family members of the author.
- Here are orphan works are also available in the market, whose rights holder cant be determined and it seems impractical to establish the inheritance rights in these cases. Or the rightful owner was never aware of the rights of the copyrighted work.
Conclusion
So for the next time, if you intent to use copyrighted work, then you must go through the guidelines which are provided above to reach the copyright owner. For any assistance regarding copyright work. Kindly contact BIAT Legal.