COPYRIGHT LAWS (Syllabus GS Paper 3 – S&T)

Context: The Tamil Nadu government announced the "nationalization" of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's collected works, making them freely available for public publication, translation, and adaptation. Here's how this initiative will be implemented.

Copyright Laws

• Copyright meaning: Copyright is the legal right given to an intellectual property owner. Copyright law grants the original creators of the product an exclusive right to use it further or duplicate the product for a specific time.

oThe Indian Copyright Act protects the creator's work by law until 60 years.

• Copyright Act, 1957: Under this act, an author has a bundle of legal rights including the right to reproduce, issue copies, perform, adapt, or translate the work in question.
• Copyright Ownership: Upon the author's death, the ownership of the copyright passes to the legal heirs.
• Section 18 of the Copyright Act: It allows a copyright owner to assign the copyright, wholly or partially, to any person in exchange for compensation.
• Duration of Copyright Protection: Copyright for literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic works remains effective for 60 years after the original author's death. After this period, the work enters the public domain.

Nationalisation of Copyright

• Establishment of Tamil Virtual Academy (TVA):The Tamil Nadu government established the Tamil Virtual Academy (TVA) in 2001 to provide online education in Tamil language.
• TVA's Collaboration: It collaborates with the legal heirs of original copyright owners to facilitate the assignment of rights to specific works to the state government.
• Public Domain: The Tamil Nadu government releases nationalized works into the public domain under a CCO 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication license, allowing unrestricted use of the works.
• Nationalization of Tamil Scholars' Works: To date, the Tamil Nadu government has nationalized the works of 179 Tamil scholars and paid Rs 14.42 crore in royalties to their heirs.