World Trade Organization Organisation Mondiale du Commerce Organización Mundial del Comercio

Australia 28, 29, 30, 31:

REPORT BY WTO SECRETARIAT (WT/TPR/S/249): III TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE:(4) MEASURES AFFECTING PRODUCTION AND TRADE: (vi) Intellectual Property Rights (e) Copyright

We note in paragraph 278, page 119 of the Secretariat report that the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2010 proposing amendments to the Copyright Act 1957 is being discussed in Parliament. We also note that the Copyright Act 1957 grants protection to: original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works; cinematographic films; and sound recordings. Registration is not mandatory.

28. 
    Could India provide details of the major amendments that are being proposed in the Copyright Amendment Bill? In particular are there provisions to protect and facilitate the digital economy such as ISP safe harbours and technological protection measures?
    

Reply: The Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010 is pending in Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of Parliament) since it was introduced on 19 April, 2010. The Bill is available at www.copyright.gov.in. The details of amendments to the Bill will only be made available after both the Houses of Parliament consider the same.

29. 
    Could India clarify how the Register operates for unpublished works? Is a copy of the work deposited on registration?
    

Reply: Both published and unpublished works can be registered. Copyright in works published before 21 January 1958, i.e. before the Copyright Act, 1957 came in force, can also be registered, provided the works still enjoy copyright. Three copies of published work may be sent along with the application. If the work to be registered is unpublished, a copy of the manuscript has to be sent along with the application for affixing the stamp of the Copyright Office in proof of the work having been registered. In case two copies of the manuscript are sent, one copy of the same duly stamped will be returned, while the other will be retained, as far as possible, in the Copyright Office for record and will be kept confidential. It would also be open to the applicant to send only extracts from the unpublished work instead of the whole manuscript and ask for the return of the extracts after being stamped with the seal of the Copyright Office. When a work has been registered as unpublished and subsequently it is published, the applicant may apply for changes in particulars entered in the Register of Copyright in Form V with prescribed fee. The process of registration and fee for registration of copyright is same.

30. 
    Since registration provides prima facie evidence in case of a dispute, how critical is it for a foreign work to be registered?  What needs to be provided as evidence of copyright ownership and subsistence for a foreign work?