What is copyright?
According to the Copyright Act of 1957, copyright is defined as a bundle of rights given by the laws to the creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and the producers of cinematograph films and sound recordings. The rights provided under Copyright law include the rights of reproduction of the work, communication of the work to the public, adaptation of the work, and translation of the work.
What is cyberspace?
Cyberspace can be defined as a system of interaction on the online platform between web- users, software, and services.
Copyright and Cyberspace
Every new invention within the field of technology experiences a spread of threats. Internet is a serious threat that has captured the physical market place and has converted into a virtual market place. The need of the hour is to initiate stringent strategies in order to design and implement secure cyberspace and protect copyright owners from the clutches of the wrongdoers. As of now, copyright has been adopted to guard internet items. It protects original work or work that is fixed in a tangible medium that means it is written, typed, or recorded. Since it is not designed for the internet, copyright law regarding the internet is not much clear and transparent.
Cyberspace may be a virtual world, which technically exists only in memory, but its interaction with material life cannot be overlooked. In fact, cyberspace may be considered as a living organism that changes frequently due to constant downloading and uploading information that’s fed and also a large number of individuals frequenting this medium.
Cyberspace is linked to copyright within the sense, an individual can come on the website and ask the people of varied locations, read, publish, research, hear music, watch a video, look at art, purchase and sell things, access to government documents, send e-mails, download software and receive technical support over the internet platform.
Now, on the web, copyright faces its greatest challenge. The main concern with digital media is that there is no degradation in successive copying. The other important factor in digital media is the case of transmission and multiple uses. The internet poses two basic challenges for I.P.R administrator, what content and data to administer? And how to administer the same? Copyright isn’t meant to grant to its holder’s exclusive control of their works, rather it’s a really specific bundle of rights designed to foster creativity for the public interest.
Copyright violations became rampant since the arrival of cyberspace and therefore the development of related information technologies. Copyright threats aren’t limited to few blockbusters but are rampant in cyberspace, affecting a variety of digital products. Moreover, a flagrant violation of copyrights maybe just a tip of the iceberg of a way services problems of I.P.R threats within the internet. The growth of the internet so drastically although has made the lives of people easy but at the same time has resulted in the creation of an unruly and anarchic space called cyberspace, which poses serious threats to copyright.
In India, databases are treated as literary works, consistent with Section 2(o) of the Copyright Act 1957 “Literary works” include computer programs, tables, and compilation including electronic databases. One of the essential copyright issues within the internet is determining the border between private and public use. The Indian Copyright Act,1957 (amended in 1994, 2012) also makes a distinction between the reproduction of the work for public use and may be done only with the proper holder’s permission, whereas the law allows a good dealing for the aim of personal use, research, criticism or review.
The infringement or alleged infringement takes sort of framing, linking, caching, archiving, and other alternative ways. The treatment isn’t uniform but varies consistent with the facts and circumstances of such acts. Internet and technological advancements concerning the internet are progressing at jet speed. The law and therefore the Courts need to catch up with the pace of such developments for efficient adjudication. Despite establishing infringement, the plight of the Copyright owners isn’t uplifted as there are other several legal issues obstructing quick adjudication. The difficulty of jurisdiction and therefore the choice of law adds more obscurity to the cases. The void in the law concerning infringement of copyright needs to be filled.
This blog is written by Amrit Rathi, Jindal Global Law School
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