Copyright registration in India: process, fees and what it is worth

The Copyright Act, 1957 protects original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematograph films and sound recordings. Literary works include computer programs, databases, website content, manuals and course material. Artistic works include logos, illustrations, photographs, product and packaging artwork, and architectural drawings.

It protects the expression, not the idea. A business method, a recipe’s ingredients, an app’s functionality, a name, a slogan or a title is not protected by copyright; names and slogans belong to trade mark law, and inventions to patents. A logo can be both: copyright in the artwork, a trade mark in its use as a brand.

• The Register of Copyrights is prima facie evidence of ownership and of the particulars entered, under section 48. In an infringement suit or a takedown dispute, the burden shifts to the other side.
• Platforms, app stores, marketplaces and customs authorities act far faster on a registration certificate than on a claim.
• It fixes a date. Where two parties claim the same work, the earlier documented date usually decides it.
• Investors and acquirers want the company, not the founder or a freelancer, shown as owner of the code and the content.

The fee is per work, the same for individuals and companies, and is prescribed in the Second Schedule to the Copyright Rules, 2013. Confirm the amount on the form at filing. An artistic work used on goods also needs a search certificate from the Trade Marks Registry, in Form TM-C, confirming that no identical or similar trade mark is registered or pending in another name.

1. File Form XIV online at copyright.gov.in, with the Statement of Particulars and, for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, the Statement of Further Particulars. One application per work.
2. Attach two copies of the work; a no-objection certificate from the author if the applicant is not the author, and from the publisher if the work is published by someone else; a power of attorney if filed through an agent; and for software, the source and object code, which the office accepts as the first and last ten pages where the code is long, with confidential portions blocked out.
3. A diary number is issued on filing, and a mandatory 30-day period begins during which any person may object.
4. Examination. If no objection is received, an examiner scrutinises the application and either approves it or issues a discrepancy letter to be answered, usually within 30 days. If an objection is received, both sides are heard by the Registrar.
5. Registration. The particulars are entered in the Register and the extract, which serves as the certificate, is issued.

The office’s own target is two to four months for an unopposed application; in practice allow four to ten months, longer where a discrepancy letter issues. Protection does not wait for the certificate.

The author is the first owner, with the exceptions that decide most business disputes. Work created by an employee in the course of employment belongs to the employer unless the contract says otherwise. Work created by a freelancer, agency or contractor belongs to them, not to the client who paid, unless there is a written assignment; a paid invoice is not an assignment. An assignment must be in writing, signed, and identify the work, the rights, the territory and the term, and if the term is not stated it is five years, and the territory India.

Before registering code, content or a logo in a company’s name, collect the assignments from every founder, freelancer and agency who touched it. This is the point at which most start-up diligence fails.

For literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works: the life of the author plus 60 years. For films, sound recordings, anonymous works and works of government and organisations: 60 years from the year of publication; photographs now get the life of the author plus 60 years. India is a member of the Berne Convention, so protection extends to member countries without separate registration.

Our copyright registration service handles the application, the authors’ no-objection certificates and any discrepancy reply, from ₹1,499 plus the government fee.