Copyright Registration

A copyright registration confers upon its owner sole rights to copy or reproduce the work or grant permission to another to do so. Are you looking for copyright registration? Let CECL IPR Experts help you out.

Three reasons to get the Copyright Registration

• It grants its owner the sole rights to distribute, replicate, reproduce the work or give authorization to another entity for the use of the same.
• It prevents unauthorized use of any original literary, musical, dramatic, sound recordings, cinematograph and other artistic works.
• It protects the economic, legal, and social interests of the copyright owner.

The Copyright Act, 1957 (the ‘Act’) came into effect from January 1958. The Act has been amended five times since then, i.e., in 1983, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1999 and 2012. The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 is the most substantial. The main reasons for amendments to the Copyright Act, 1957 include to bring the Act in conformity with two WIPO internet treaties concluded in 1996 namely, the WIPO Copyright Treaty ("WCT") and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty ("WPPT"); to protect the Music and Film Industry and address its concerns; to address the concerns of the physically disabled and to protect the interests of the author of any work; Incidental changes; to remove operational facilities; and enforcement of rights. Some of the important amendments to the Copyright Act in 2012 are extension of copyright protection in the digital environment such as penalties for circumvention of technological protection measures and rights management information, and liability of internet service provider and introduction of statutory licenses for cover versions and broadcasting organizations; ensuring right to receive royalties for authors, and music composers, exclusive economic and moral rights to performers, equal membership rights in copyright societies for authors and other right owners and exception of copyrights for physically disabled to access any works.

Prior to the Act of 1957, the Law of Copyrights in the country was governed by the Copyright Act of 1914. This Act was essentially the extension of the British Copyright Act, 1911 to India. Even the Copyright Act, 1957 borrowed extensively from the new Copyright Act of the United Kingdom of 1956. The Copyright Act, 1957 continues with the common law traditions. Developments elsewhere have brought about certain degree of convergence in copyright regimes in the developed world.

Presently, the Act is compliant with most international conventions and treaties in the field of copyrights. India is a member of the Berne Convention of 1886 (as modified at Paris in 1971), the Universal Copyright Convention of 1952 and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of 1995. Though India is not a member of the Rome Convention of 1961, the Act is fully compliant with the Rome Convention provisions.

Substantial amendments were made to the provisions of the Act in the year 2012. These amendments had the effect of making the Act compliant with the WCT and WPPT. Both WCT and WPPT came into force in 2002 and were negotiated essentially to provide for protection of the rights of copyright holders, performers and producers of phonograms in the Internet and digital era. India acceded to both these treaties in 2018; Further, the provisions of the Act are also in harmony with two other WIPO treaties namely, the Beijing Audiovisual Performers Treaty, 2012 and the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled Persons, 2013.

The Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2016 were published in Official Gazette of India on 10th August 2016 and came into effect from 12th August 2016 replacing the old Copyright Rules of 2013. These Rules inter alia brought about amendments to the terms and conditions of the office of Chairman and members of the Board and in the process of application for registration of copyright. Particularly in Rule 70, Sub-Rule (6), the phrase "in relation to any goods" was substituted by the words "in relation to any goods or services". Accordingly, item 14 under the ‘Statement of Particulars’ of FORM XIV under the First Schedule of the Act, the words "in relation to any goods" were substituted by "in relation to any goods or services".

Documents Required for Copyright Registration

• Information regarding the author(s) including full name and address, details of the contribution made to the work;
• Title of the work;
• Whether the work is already published or unpublished. If published, the date of first publication and last publication;
• Language used in the work;
• Copies of the work for which a copyright must be filed (word/PDF/CD format)
• Information regarding Applicant, including full name and address, type of legal entity (i.e., a company, partnership, corporation, or individual), state of incorporation or country of citizenship;
• A Power of Attorney signed by the applicant in whose name the application will be filed; (It will be prepared by us)
• No-objection letter from the author of the work where the author of the work and Applicant are not the same person (it will be prepared by CECL IPR Division)
• Click here to download the complete checklist for copyright registration.

Legal Procedures of Copyright Registration

• The online “Copyright Registration Form” is to be filled up in four steps
• I. Complete the Form XIV, then press SAVE button to Save entered details, and press Step 2 to move to Next Step.
• II. Signature to be scanned in 512 KB and kept ready for uploading.
• III. Fill up the Statement of Particulars, and then press SAVE button to Save entered details, and press Step 3/4 to move to Next step
• IV. Fill up the Statement of Further particulars. This form is applicable for “LITERARY/ DRAMATIC, MUSICAL AND ARTISTIC” works, and then press SAVE button to Save entered details, and press Step 4 to move to Next Step.
• V. Make the payment through Internet Payment gateway
• After successful submission of the form, Diary Number will be generated (Please note it for future reference).
• Artistic Work to be uploaded in pdf/jpg/png format or Literary/Dramatic Work to be uploaded in pdf format, less than 5 MB, keep ready.
• Please take 1 hard copy (print) of “Acknowledgement Slip” and 1 hard copy (print) of “Copyright Registration Form”, and send it by post to
• Copyright Division

Department For Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Boudhik Sampada Bhawan,
Plot No. 32, Sector 14, Dwarka, New Delhi-110078
Email Address: copyright[at]nic[dot]in
Telephone No.: 011-28032496

Click here for the List of the documents to be attached

Features & Benefits of Copyright Registration

• Saving from monetary loss: It prevents losses arising from copies being made of the original work by third parties in the form of piracy if you have got you work registered under Copyright Act. We all are very familiar with the word ‘Pirated’ books, DVDs, Music Videos, Movies, Software which are commonly available in the Indian Market causing huge enormous losses for publishers and authors.
• Legal Protection: If your work is registered under copyright, it gives vault to published work and thereby giving your hard work a kind of legal protection. However, if the same is not registered, it becomes quite difficult to prove the case of the owner in the court of law.
• Pre-emptive measure: If you come to find that there are people copying your work, you can send a them legal notice which gives you peace of mind even if the case goes to legal proceedings at a later stage saving a lot of time and money for your hard work put into your original work prepared by you.
• Fostering Creativity and Innovation: In India, it is said that there is no copyright but every right to copy. Many Organisations spend a lot of time and money in expectation of making money, and copyright law ensures that it can reap the benefits in the future.
• Protecting ownership: By protecting the original work, it ensures that the reputation of their creators/authors is not given a toll and safely protected. By saving the ownership, it gives the owner of the copyright a kind of prestige that a certain work belongs to them or their organization.