Introduction

• This case deals with the concept of originality under Section 13 and 14 of the Copyright Act, 1957.
• The Copyright Act protects the rights of the author whose rights are exploited by another person by way of using his original work without the permission of the author.

Facts

• In this case appellant 1, who is the Eastern Book Company (EBC), and appellant 2, EBC Publishing Private Ltd. company, were engaged together for printing and publishing various books in the field of law.
• The appellants had published the law report called “Supreme Court cases” which consists reportable and non-reportable judgments, orders, decree and directions of the Supreme Court.
• Head notes, footnotes and long notes of judgments were prepared by the appellant 3.
• The appellants procured the data from registrar of the Supreme Court and then published them after editing, formatting and making it user friendly.
• In 2001, respondents came out with the software ‘Grand Jurix’ and ‘the Laws’ publishing the same CD ROMs.
• Respondents used the judgements of the appellants, and the appellants filed a suit of injunction against respondents on the infringement of their copyright.
• The interim order of injunction was passed by the single judge, but respondents filed an application for vacation of stay then the single judge dismissed the appellants application and allowed the respondents stay application.
• The further appellants appealed before the division bench of Delhi High Court however the HC also rejected the plea of the appellants.

Issues Involved

• What shall be the standard of originality in copy-edited judgments of the Supreme Court?
• Whether the entire work of the appellants be considered as the original work as it was the copy-edited text of the judgments published in the appellants law report?

Observations

• The Court said that the Copyright Right Act, 1957 gives an exclusive right in relation to certain works to the authors which protects the interest of the authors.
  • Whenever a person produces something with his skill and labour, the other person cannot take profit out of the skill.
• The Court further said that the judgment of the court would be government work as per Section 2(k) of the Act.
  • And Section 52(q)(iv) of the Act exempts the reproduction and publication of the decisions of the Courts unless it is prohibited, from copyright infringement.
• Further, the court said that, if someone wants to secure copyright for the judgments delivered by the court then it is necessary that the labour, skill and capital invested should be sufficient to impart to the judgment some quality or character which the original judgment does not possess, and which differentiate the original judgment from the printed one.
• The Court further observed that to establish copyright, some amount of creativity in the work is required.
• After considering the features of the Law report of the appellant the court observed that the arrangements and selection are minimally creative but may be the result of labour, skill and investment.
• The Court further said the changes and arrangements made by the appellants require the reading of whole judgments and understanding of the questions involved and said these inputs in the judgment enjoy copyright.

Conclusion

• The court partially allowed the appeal and said the defendant shall not use the paragraphs made by the appellants in the copy-edited version of the judgments.

Note

Section 13 of Copyright Right Act, 1957: Works in which copyright subsists -

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and the other provisions of this Act, copyright shall subsist throughout India in the following classes of works, that is to say, -

(a) original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works;

(b) cinematograph films; and

(c) sound recording

(2) Copyright shall not subsist in any work specified in sub-section (1), other than a work to which the provisions of Section 40 or Section 41 apply, unless —

(i) in the case of a published work, the work is first published in India, or where the work is first published outside India, the author is at the date of such publication, or in a case where the author was dead at that date, was at the time of his death, a citizen of India;

(ii) in the case of an unpublished work other than work of architecture, the author is at the date of the making of the work a citizen of India or domiciled in India; and work of architecture, the author is at the date of the making of the work a citizen of India or domiciled in India; and

(iii) in the case of work of architecture, the work is located in India. work of architecture, the work is located in India."

Explanation. —In the case of a work of joint authorship, the conditions conferring copyright specified in this sub-section shall be satisfied by all the authors of the work.

(3) Copyright shall not subsist—

(a) in any cinematograph film if a substantial part of the film is an infringement of the copyright in any other work;

(b) in any sound recording made in respect of a literary, dramatic or musical work, if in making the sound recording, copyright in such work has been infringed. Sound recording made in respect of a literary, dramatic or musical work, if in making the sound recording, copyright in such work has been infringed."

(4) The copyright in a cinematograph film or a sound recording shall not affect the separate copyright in any work in respect of which or a substantial part of which, the film, or, as the case may be, the sound recording is made.

(5) In the case of work of architecture, copyright shall subsist only in the artistic character and design and shall not extend to processes or methods of construction.

Section 14: Meaning of copyright - For the purposes of this Act, “copyright” means the exclusive right subject to the provisions of this Act, to do or authorize the doing of any of the following acts in respect of a work or any substantial part thereof, namely: —

(a) in the case of a literary, dramatic or musical work, not being a computer programme,—

(i) to reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means;

(ii) to issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation;

(iii) to perform the work in public, or communicate it to the public;

(iv) to make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work;

(v) to make any translation of the work;

(vi) to make any adaptation of the work;

(vii) to do, in relation to a translation or an adaptation of the work, any of the acts specified in relation to the work in sub-clauses (i) to (vi);

(b) in the case of a computer programme,—

(i) to do any of the acts specified in clause (a); 2(ii) to sell or give on commercial rental or offer for sale or for commercial rental any copy of the computer programme: Provided that such commercial rental does not apply in respect of computer programmes where the programme itself is not the essential object of the rental.

(c) in the case of an artistic work, —

(i) to reproduce the work in any material form including depiction in three dimensions of a two-dimensional work or in two dimensions of a three-dimensional work;

(ii) to communicate the work to the public;

(iii) to issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation;

(iv) to include the work in any cinematograph film;

(v) to make any adaptation of the work;

(vi) to do in relation to an adaptation of the work any of the acts specified in relation to the work in sub-clauses (i) to (iv);

(d) in the case of a cinematograph film, —

(i) to make a copy of the film including a photograph of any image forming part thereof;

(ii) to sell or give on hire or offer for sale or hire, any copy of the film, regardless of whether such copy has been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions;

(iii) to communicate the film to the public;

(e) in the case of a sound recording, —

(i) to make any other sound recording embodying it;

(ii) to sell or give on hire, or offer for sale or hire, any copy of the sound recording, regardless of whether such copy has been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions;

(iii) to communicate the sound recording to the public. Explanation. — For the purposes of this section, a copy which has been sold once shall be deemed to be a copy already in circulation.