Journal of Intellectual Property Rights

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Copyright Law Declared by the Supreme Court of India


Affiliations
1 Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat — 131 001, Haryana, India., India
2 National Law Institute University, Bhopal — 462 044, Madhya Pradesh, India., India
3 Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi — 110 025, India., India
 

The law declared by the Supreme Court of India (Supreme Court) is the law of the land by virtue of Article 141 of the Constitution of India. When the Supreme Court decides a lis, it not only decide for the parties to the case but also declares the law on a question that it decides to answer. There are only twenty-four reported decisions delivered by the Supreme Court in the last 72 years on the copyright law. Number of decisions per year is not even one. On an average, the Supreme Court has decided. 33 case in a year; orone copyright case in 1104.58 days; or in 3.02 years. These decisions of the Supreme Court on the copyright law are just double of the number of decisions on the patent law. A review of decisions on copyright law from 28 January 1950 to 28 August 2022, reveals that: (i) only in 20 decisions, the Supreme Court has declared copyright law which include 4 decisions from 20 th century and 16 decisions from 21 st century; (ii) the validity of The Copyright Act, 1957, was not challenged in any decision;(iii) only one case from the decision of theHigh Court involving the constitutionality of Rule 29 (4) of The Copyright Rules, 2013 where the High Court re-drafted the Rule, reached to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court held the re-drafting by the High Court as unwarranted and shown deference to the legislative wisdom; (iv) No Constitution Bench or Single Bench decision is reported; (v) no Chief Justice of India was on the bench in any copyright decision; (vi) only 4 judges authored their separate but concurring judgments (3 from 20 th century and 1 from 21 st century) and no dissenting judgment was delivered; (vii) the Court has unanimpously answered the questions of copyright law; and (viii) only someof the questions of copyright law have been answered unambiguously and unequivovally by the Supreme Court but some of the questions havebeen left open by the Court. This Paper seeks to cull out the principles of copyright law as declared by the Supreme Court in the last 72 years.

Keywords

Copyright Law, Supreme Court of India, Law Declared, the Constitution of India, Article 141, the Copyright Act, 1911, the Copyright Act, 1957, the Copyright Rules, 1958, the Copyright Rules, 2013, Principles, Bench, Infringement, Presumption of Constitutionality, Amendment, Copyright Board, Law-Making, Craftsmanship.
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  • Raza A & Alam G, Patent Law Declared by the Supreme Court of India, Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, 28(1) (2023) 46–67.

  • The decisions on the copyright law have been taken from the Judgment Information Systemof the Supreme Court (JUDIS), https://main.sci.gov.in/judgments (accessed 8 July 2022). For the purposes of citations: Supreme Court Reports (SCR), TruePrint copies from Supreme Court Cases (SCC), SCC OnLine, Supreme Court Almanac (SCALE) and All India Reporter (AIR) have been referred and relied upon. Where, the judgment is not available on the above-mentioned judgment reporters, reliance has been placed on the judgment copy as available on JUDIS.

  • Act 14 of 1957.

  • 1 & 2 Geo. 5, CH. 46.

  • The expression ‘interpretation-construction’ has been used in the same sense as explained by Lawrence B Solum. Solum L B, The Interpretation-Construction Distinction, Constitutional Commentary, 27 (2010) 95–218.

  • The Patents and Designs Act of the year 1911 were in force till The Patents Act was enacted in the year 1970 and The Designs Act in 2000.

  • (1977) 2 SCC 820.

  • 2022 SCC OnLine SC 668.

  • (1996) 6 SCC 409.

  • (1977) 2 SCC 820.

  • (1977) 2 SCC 820, 827.

  • (1977) 2 SCC 820, 830.

  • (1977) 2 SCC 820, 830–831.

  • (1977) 2 SCC 820, 831.

  • (1977) 2 SCC 820, 832.

  • (1977) 2 SCC 820, 832.

  • For detail see:Raza A, Theoretical Underpinnings of Copyright and Design Laws: Decisions of the Supreme Court of India, Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, 26(4) (2021) 220–234; and Raza A & Alam G, Theoretical Underpinnings of Copyright and Design Laws post-KrishikaLullaand Godrej Sara Lee: Decisions of the Supreme Court of India, Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, 27 (6) 434–441.

  • (1977) 2 SCC 820, 834.

  • (1978) 4 SCC 118.

  • (1978) 4 SCC 127.

  • (1978) 4 SCC 129.

  • (1978) 4 SCC 129–130.

  • (1978) 4 SCC 130.

  • (1978) 4 SCC 139–140.

  • (1978) 4 SCC 140.

  • (1978) 4 SCC 140–141.

  • (1984) 2 SCC 534.

  • (1984) 2 SCC 534, 555.

  • (1984) 2 SCC 534, 540.

  • (1984) 2 SCC 534, 549.

  • (1984) 2 SCC 534, 549–550.

  • (1984) 2 SCC 534, 555.

  • (1984) 2 SCC 534, 556.

  • (1996) 6 SCC 409.

  • (1996) 6 SCC 409, 413.

  • (1996) 6 SCC 409, 414.

  • (1996) 6 SCC 409, 412.

  • (1996) 6 SCC 409, 413.

  • (2002) 2 SCC 103.

  • 2022 SCC OnLine SC 668.

  • (2002) 2 SCC 103.

  • (2002) 2 SCC 103, 107

  • (2004) 3 SCC 488.

  • (2004) 3 SCC 488, 693.

  • (2004) 3 SCC 488, 694.

  • (2006) 9 SCC 41.

  • (2006) 9 SCC 41, 47.

  • (2006) 9 SCC 41, 48.

  • (2006) 9 SCC 41, 49.

  • (2006) 9 SCC 41, 51.

  • (2006) 9 SCC 41, 55.

  • (2006) 9 SCC 41, 56.

  • (2006) 9 SCC 41, 53–54.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 77.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 70.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 74.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 52–53.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 53.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 51.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 72–73.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 73.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 52.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 59.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 60.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 61–62.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 64.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 65.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 66.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 67.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 68.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 68–69.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 69.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 69–70.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 71.

  • (2008) 13 SCC 30, 72.

  • (2008) 1 SCC 1.

  • (2008) 1 SCC 1, 90.

  • (2008) 1 SCC 1, 94.

  • (2008) 1 SCC 1, 96.

  • (2008) 1 SCC 1, 103–104.

  • (2008) 1 SCC 1, 112.

  • (2008) 1 SCC 1, 113.

  • (2008) 10 SCC 595.

  • (2008) 10 SCC 595, 605.

  • (2008) 10 SCC 595, 606.

  • (2008) 10 SCC 595, 607.

  • (2009) 4 SCC 256.

  • (2009) 4 SCC 256, 266.

  • (2009) 4 SCC 256, 267.

  • (2009) 4 SCC 256, 269.

  • (2011) 15 SCC 425.

  • (2014) 14 SCC 762.

  • (2014) 14 SCC 762, 769–770.

  • (2014) 14 SCC 762, 771.

  • (2016) 2 SCC 521.

  • (2016) 2 SCC 521, 526.

  • (1881) LR 19 Ch D 76 (CA).

  • (2016) 2 SCC 521, 529–530.

  • (2017) 1 SCC 1.

  • (2018) 11 SCC 700.

  • (2017) 11 SCC 437.

  • (2017) 11 SCC 437, 449.

  • Act 27 of 2012.

  • (2017) 11 SCC 437, 451.

  • (2018) 9 SCC 220.

  • (2018) 9 SCC 220, 225.

  • (2018) 9 SCC 226.

  • (2018) 8 SCC 804.

  • (2019) 2 SCC 104.

  • Notified on 3 March 2017.

  • (2019) 2 SCC 104, 166.

  • (2019) 2 SCC 104, 166–167.

  • (2019) 2 SCC 104, 168–169.

  • (2019) 2 SCC 104, 169.

  • (2019) 2 SCC 104, 169–160.

  • (2019) 2 SCC 104, 170.

  • (2020) 5 SCC 353.

  • (2020) 5 SCC 353, 359.

  • (2022) 3 SCC 321.

  • (2022) 3 SCC 321, 372.

  • (2022) 3 SCC 321, 373.

  • (2022) 3 SCC 321, 399.

  • (2022) 3 SCC 321, 402.

  • (2022) 3 SCC 321, 452.

  • (2022) 3 SCC 321, 469.

  • (2022) 1 SCC 701.

  • The Copyright Rules 2013, G.S.R. 172(E) dated 14 March 2013 published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, 14 March 2013.

  • (2022) 1 SCC 701, 710.

  • (2022) 1 SCC 701, 711.

  • 2022 SCC OnLine SC 668.

  • 2022 SCC OnLine SC 668, para 16.


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  • Copyright Law Declared by the Supreme Court of India

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Authors

Aqa Raza
Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat — 131 001, Haryana, India., India
Ghayur Alam
National Law Institute University, Bhopal — 462 044, Madhya Pradesh, India., India
Mohammad Athar Talib
Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi — 110 025, India., India

Abstract


The law declared by the Supreme Court of India (Supreme Court) is the law of the land by virtue of Article 141 of the Constitution of India. When the Supreme Court decides a lis, it not only decide for the parties to the case but also declares the law on a question that it decides to answer. There are only twenty-four reported decisions delivered by the Supreme Court in the last 72 years on the copyright law. Number of decisions per year is not even one. On an average, the Supreme Court has decided. 33 case in a year; orone copyright case in 1104.58 days; or in 3.02 years. These decisions of the Supreme Court on the copyright law are just double of the number of decisions on the patent law. A review of decisions on copyright law from 28 January 1950 to 28 August 2022, reveals that: (i) only in 20 decisions, the Supreme Court has declared copyright law which include 4 decisions from 20 th century and 16 decisions from 21 st century; (ii) the validity of The Copyright Act, 1957, was not challenged in any decision;(iii) only one case from the decision of theHigh Court involving the constitutionality of Rule 29 (4) of The Copyright Rules, 2013 where the High Court re-drafted the Rule, reached to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court held the re-drafting by the High Court as unwarranted and shown deference to the legislative wisdom; (iv) No Constitution Bench or Single Bench decision is reported; (v) no Chief Justice of India was on the bench in any copyright decision; (vi) only 4 judges authored their separate but concurring judgments (3 from 20 th century and 1 from 21 st century) and no dissenting judgment was delivered; (vii) the Court has unanimpously answered the questions of copyright law; and (viii) only someof the questions of copyright law have been answered unambiguously and unequivovally by the Supreme Court but some of the questions havebeen left open by the Court. This Paper seeks to cull out the principles of copyright law as declared by the Supreme Court in the last 72 years.

Keywords


Copyright Law, Supreme Court of India, Law Declared, the Constitution of India, Article 141, the Copyright Act, 1911, the Copyright Act, 1957, the Copyright Rules, 1958, the Copyright Rules, 2013, Principles, Bench, Infringement, Presumption of Constitutionality, Amendment, Copyright Board, Law-Making, Craftsmanship.

References