The Copyright Act, 1957
CHAPTER XI: INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT
Section 51: When Copyright Infringed
Bare Act
Copyright in a work shall be deemed to be infringed -
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when any person, without a licence granted by the owner of the copyright or the Registrar of Copyrights under this Act or in contravention of the conditions of a licence so granted or of any condition imposed by a competent authority under this Act -
- does anything, the exclusive right to do which is by this Act conferred upon the owner of the copyright, or
- permits for profit any place to be used for the communication of the work to the public where such communication constitutes an infringement of the copyright in the work, unless he was not aware and had no reasonable ground for believing that such communication to the public would be an infringement of copyright;
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when any person -
- makes for sale or hire, or sells or lets for hire, or by way of trade displays or offers for sale or hire, or
- distributes either for the purpose of trade or to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the owner of the copyright, or
- by way of trade exhibits in public, or
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imports into India, any infringing copies of the work :
Provided that nothing in sub - clause (iv) shall apply to the import of one copy of any work for the private and domestic use of the importer.
Explanation - For the purposes of this section, the reproduction of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work in the form of a cinematograph film shall be deemed to be an "infringing copy".
Simplified Act
When someone breaks copyright rules, it usually happens in one of the following ways:
- If a person does something that only the copyright owner is allowed to do, or lets their space be used to show or play copyrighted work for profit, and this act breaks copyright law. This is true unless the person did not know and had no reason to think that showing the work would break the law.
- This includes any actions that the copyright law says only the owner can do.
- It also includes letting a place be used to show the work to the public for money, which would be against copyright law.
- When a person does… Read the complete text with KanoonGPT Pro.
Explanation using examples
Let's consider a hypothetical scenario to understand Section 51 of The Copyright Act, 1957. Suppose Mr. A is a popular author who has written a best-selling novel. The copyright of this novel lies with Mr. A.
One day, Mr. B, who owns a bookstore, starts selling photocopies of the novel without obtaining any license from Mr. A or the Registrar of Copyrights. This is a clear violation of part 'a' of the act as Mr. B is doing something that is the exclusive right of the copyright owner, Mr. A.
In another instance, Mr. C, a club owner, starts playing a movie based on the novel in his club for profit, without Mr. A's permission. Mr. C was aware that the movie is copyrighted. This is a violation of part 'a, ii' as Mr. C is using the place for communication of the work to the public which infringes the copyright.
Further, Mr. D, an online retailer, starts selling imported copies of the novel without Mr. A's permission. This is a violation of part 'b, iv' as he is importing infringing copies of the work. However, if Mr. E, a reader, imports a single copy of the novel for his private use, it would not be considered a violation due to the provided exception in the act.
In all these cases, the actions of Mr. B, C, and D can be deemed as copyright infringement under Section 51 of The Copyright Act, 1957.
