17. First owner of copyright.—Subject to the provisions of this Act, the author of a work shall be
the first owner of the copyright therein:
Provided that—
(a) in the case of a literary, dramatic or artistic work made by the author in the course of his
employment by the proprietor of a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical under a contract of
service or apprenticeship, for the purpose of publication in a newspaper, magazine or similar
periodical, the said proprietor shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first
owner of the copyright in the work in so far as the copyright relates to the publication of the work
in any newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, or to the reproduction of the work for the
purpose of its being so published, but in all other respects the author shall be the first owner of the
copyright in the work;
(b) subject to the provisions of clause (a), in the case of a photograph taken, or a painting or
portrait drawn, or an engraving or a cinematograph film made, for valuable consideration at the
instance of any person, such person shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the
first owner of the copyright therein;
1. Subs. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 5, for sub-clause (ii) (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
2. Ins. by s. 5, ibid. (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
3. Subs. by s. 5, ibid., for sub-clause (ii) (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
4. The words “Indian Patents and” omitted by Act 23 of 1983, s. 7 (w.e.f. 9-8-1984).
5. Subs. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 6, for “Designs Act, 1911 (2 of 1911)” (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
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(c) in the case of a work made in the course of the author’s employment under a contract of
service or apprenticeship, to which clause (a) or clause (b) does not apply, the employer shall, in
the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein;
1
[(cc) in the case of any address or speech delivered in public, the person who has delivered
such address or speech or if such person has delivered such address or speech on behalf of any
other person, such other person shall be the first owner of the copyright therein notwithstanding
that the person who delivers such address or speech, or, as the case may be, the person on whose
behalf such address or speech is delivered, is employed by any other person who arranges such
address or speech or on whose behalf or premises such address or speech is delivered;]
(d) in the case of a Government work, Government shall, in the absence of any agreement to
the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein;
1
[(dd) in the case of a work made or first published by or under the direction or control of any
public undertaking, such public undertaking shall, in the absence of any agreement to the
contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein.
Explanation.—For the purpose of this clause and section 28A, “public undertaking” means—
(i) an undertaking owned or controlled by Government; or
(ii) a Government company as defined in Section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956);
or
(iii) a body corporate established by or under any Central, Provincial or State Act;]
(e) in the case of a work to which the provisions of section 41 apply, the international
organisation concerned shall be the first owner of the copyright therein.
2
[Provided that in case of any work incorporated in a cinematograph work, nothing contained in
clauses (b) and (c) shall affect the right of the author in the work referred to in clause (a) of
sub-section (1) of section 13.]
18. Assignment of copyright.—(1) The owner of the copyright in an existing work or the prospective
owner of the copyright in a future work may assign to any person the copyright either wholly or partially
and either generally or subject to limitations and either for the whole term of the copyright or any part
thereof:
Provided that in the case of the assignment of copyright in any future work, the assignment shall take
effect only when the work comes into existence.
3
[Provided further that no such assignment shall be applied to any medium or mode of exploitation of
the work which did not exit or was not in commercial use at the time when the assignment was made,
unless the assignment specifically referred to such medium or mode of exploitation of the work:
Provided also that the author of the literary or musical work included in a cinematograph film shall
not assign or waive the right to receive royalties to be shared on an equal basis with the assignee of
copyright for the utilisation of such work in any form other than for the communication to the public of
the work along with the cinematograph film in a cinema hall, except to the legal heirs of the authors or to
a copyright society for collection and distribution and any agreement to contrary shall be void:
Provided also that the author of the literary or musical work included in the sound recording but not
forming part of any cinematograph film shall not assign or waive the right to receive royalties to be
shared on an equal basis with the assignee of copyright for any utilisation of such work except to the legal
heirs of the authors or to a collecting society for collection and distribution and any assignment to the
contrary shall be void.]
(2) Where the assignee of a copyright becomes entitled to any right comprised in the copyright, the
assignee as respects the rights so assigned, and the assignor as respects the rights not assigned, shall be
1. Ins. by Act 23 of 1983, s. 8 (w.e.f. 9-8-1984).
2. Ins. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 7 (w.e.f. 21-6-202).
3. Ins. by s. 8, ibid. (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
14
treated for the purposes of this Act as the owner of copyright and the provisions of this Act shall have
effect accordingly.
(3) In this section, the expression “assignee” as respects the assignment of the copyright in any future
work includes the legal representatives of the assignee, if the assignee dies before the work comes into
existence.
19. Mode of assignment.—1
[(1)] No assignment of the copyright in any work shall be valid unless it
is in writing signed by the assignor or by his duly authorised agent.
2
[(2) The assignment of copyright in any work shall identify such work, and shall specify the rights
assigned and the duration and territorial extent of such assignment.
(3) The assignment of copyright in any work shall also specify the amount of 3
[royalty and any other
consideration payable], to the author or his legal heirs during the currency of the assignment and the
assignment shall be subject to revision, extension or termination on terms mutually agreed upon by the
parties.
(4) Where the assignee does not exercise the rights assigned to him under any of the other
sub-sections of this section within period of one year from the date of assignment, the assignment in
respect of such right shall be deemed to have lapsed after the expiry of the said period unless otherwise
specified in the assignment.
(5) If the period of assignment is not stated, it shall be deemed to be five years from the date of
assignment.
(6) If the territorial extent of assignment of the rights is not specified, it shall be presumed to extend
within India.
(7) Nothing in sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) or
sub-section (6) shall be applicable to assignments made before the coming into force of the Copyright
(Amendment) Act, 1994].
4
[(8) The assignment of copyright in any work contrary to the terms and conditions of the rights
already assigned to a copyright society in which the author of the work is a member shall be void.
(9) No assignment of copyright in any work to make a cinematograph film shall affect the right of the
author of the work to claim an equal share of royalties and consideration payable in case of utilisation of
the work in any form other than for the communication to the public of the work, along with the
cinematograph film in a cinema hall.
(10) No assignment of the copyright in any work to make a sound recording which does not form part
of any cinematograph film shall affect the right of the author of the work to claim an equal share of
royalties and consideration payable for any utilisation of such work in any form.]
5
[19A. Disputes with respect to assignment of copyright.—(1) If an assignee fails to make
sufficient exercise of the rights assigned to him, and such failure is not attributable to any act or omission
of the assignor, then, the 6
[Appellate Board] may, on receipt of a complaint from the assignor and after
holding such inquiry as it may deem necessary, revoke such assignment.
(2) If any dispute arises with respect to the assignment of any copyright, the 6
[Appellate Board] may,
on receipt of a complaint from the aggrieved party and after holding such inquiry as it considers
necessary, pass such order as it may deem fit including an order for the recovery of any royalty payable:
Provided that the 6
[Appellate Board] shall not pass any order under this sub-section to revoke the
assignment unless it is satisfied that the terms of assignment are harsh to the assignor in case the assignor
is also the author:
1. Section 19 re-numbered as sub-section (1) thereof by Act 23 of 1983, s. 9 (w.e.f. 9-8-1984).
2. Subs. by Act 38 of 1994, s. 8, for section 19 (w.e.f. 10-5-1995).
3. Subs. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 9, for “royalty payable” (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
4. Ins. by s. 9, ibid. (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
5. Subs. by Act 38 of 1994, s. 9, for section 19A (w.e.f. 10-5-1995).
6. Subs. by Act 7 of 2017, s.160, for “Copyright Board” (w.e.f. 26-5-2017).
15
1
[Provided further that, pending the disposal of an application for revocation of assignment under this
sub-section, the 2
[Appellate Board] may pass such order, as it deems fit regarding implementation of the
terms and conditions of assignment including any consideration to be paid for the enjoyment of the rights
assigned:—
Provided also that,] no order of revocation of assignment under this sub-section, shall be made within
a period of five years from the date of such assignment.]
3
[(3) Every complaint received under sub-section (2) shall be dealt with by the 2
[Appellate Board] as
far as possible and efforts shall be made to pass the final order in the matter within a period of six months
from the date of receipt of the complaint and any delay in compliance of the same, the 2
[Appellate Board]
shall record the reasons thereof.]
20. Transmission of copyright in manuscript by testamentary disposition.—Where under a
bequest a person is entitled to the manuscript of a literary, dramatic or musical work, or to an artistic
work, and the work was not published before the death of the testator, the bequest shall, unless the
contrary intention is indicated in the testator’s will or any codicil thereto, be construed as including the
copyright in the work in so far as the testator was the owner of the copyright immediately before his
death.
Explanation.—In this section, the expression “manuscript” means the original document embodying
the work, whether written by hand or not.
21. Right of author to relinquish copyright.—(1) The author of a work may relinquish all or any of
the rights comprised in the copyright in the work by giving notice in the prescribed form to 4
[the Registrar
of Copyrights or by way of public notice] and thereupon such rights shall, subject to the provisions of
sub-section (3), cease to exist from the date of the notice.
(2) On receipt of a notice under sub-section (1), the Registrar of Copyrights shall cause it to be
published in the Official Gazette and in such other manner as he may deem fit.
5
[(2A) The Registrar of Copyright shall, within fourteen days from the publication of the notice in the
Official Gazette, post the notice on the official website of the Copyright Office so as to remain in the
public domain for a period of not less than three years.]
(3) The relinquishment of all or any of the rights comprised in the copyright in a work shall not affect
any rights subsisting in favour of any person on the date of notice referred to in sub-section (1).