Minal was a creative mind, always knitting stories here and there, creating fun and entertainment out of words. When Minal thought it was time to do something big, write something like a book, she started working on it, wrote a few chapters, and shared it with her best friend Subbu, who was also a budding writer. As per Subbu’s review, Minal needed to work on her writing skills before starting with the book. Minal took the review positively and started working harder on her writing. However, a couple of months later, Subbu came up with a book whose plot matched word to word with the chapters shared by Minal earlier. While Minal felt betrayed, she took the lesson of legal protection through copyright. Suing Subbu for now may be effective, but a really long legal battle. For the next book she was working on, she searched about “how to copyright a book in India?”, because this time, she would not let anyone take credit for her work. Here is a simplification of the process for registration of copyright for books.
Copyright Law for Books
The Copyright Act, 1957 states the several kinds of literary and artistic works on which the originator enjoys exclusive rights. The said person enjoys the right to any profits made, any fame associated with the work, and the right to authorize anyone else to enjoy certain rights over the said work. A book, regardless of the genre, takes up a lot of work for travelling from thoughts to becoming a reality. The law of copyright states that the day such work comes in its physical form, be it a written document on computer, or a manuscript printed on paper, the maker has a right over it.
While you have the right to enjoy and exploit the said work, what happens when someone else copies your hard work to make some money? This is theft in some sense, even if related to intellectual property rights. So if you take the legal approach against the exploitation of your book by someone else, you will have to prove that you created the same. But how will you prove to the world, or Court, that you were the original creator and the other person stole your work? Though it is not impossible, because people usually retain the original, unedited, raw work, and the edited copy, the conversation with someone regarding development of the book may help, but that is a lot of work. In such a case, copyright registration for the book may help make things easy. It further helps keeping up with the exclusive rights through copyright for books. But how to copyright a book in India? That is why copyright is recommended for literary or artistic work sought for commercial purposes, to make profits.
Copyright Registration in India
While a person gets exclusive rights over their artistic or literary work once it comes into existence, copyright registration is recommended for evidentiary purposes and better protection. Thus, authors should know how to copyright a book in India, or have an IPR lawyer by their side to take care of the legal or procedural formalities.
How to copyright a book in India?
In order to obtain copyright for books in India, you need to approach the Copyright Office. It is the central authority which falls under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It handles all the matters pertaining to copyright in India. Since the initial question is how to copyright a book in India, the answer is through both online and offline process.
Copyright Registration – Offline
To proceed with the offline registration process to get copyright for books in India, you need to fill Form XIV and submit the same at the Copyright Office along with the Statement of Particulars (SoP) and the Statement of Further Particulars (SoFP) duly signed by the applicant. The prescribed fee can only be paid through postal order or Demand Draft in favour of ‘Registrar of Copyrights’ payable at New Delhi.You can check the specific requirements for offline copyright registration process here.
Online Application process for copyright registration of book in India
- The first step for copyright registration on the Copyright Office website is New User Registration – Click here.
- For registration, users need to provide details like their name, address, contact number, nationality, and choose a user ID and password. They will click on the “Send OTP” button. The user registration will be completed with verification through OTP.
- Already registered users can login here using their user ID and password.
- On the dashboard, click on to link “Click for online Copyright Registration”.
- At first, Complete the Form XIV, save the details entered and go for the next step.
- You need to scan your Signature in advance in 512 KB image size for uploading.
- Fill the Statement of Particulars, and then press SAVE button to proceed with the next step.
- Confirm the applicability of Form XIV for literary work since it is for copyright for book.
- Make the payment through Internet Payment gateway.
- A diary number will be generated, which you need to save for future reference.
- Meanwhile, keep your Literary Work ready to be uploaded in pdf format, of less than 10 MB in size. If the document or scanned copy is heavy, compress the file to fit within 10 MB.
- Take a print out of the duly filled copyright registration form. Also save the Acknowledgement Slip.
- Applicants need to send 1 hard copy or printed copy of “Acknowledgement Slip” and 1 hard copy (print) of “Copyright Registration Form”, and send it by post to the following address:
Copyright Division
Department For Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Boudhik Sampada Bhawan,
Plot No. 32, Sector 14, Dwarka, New Delhi-110078
What is the copyright fee for a book in India?
The application fee for registration of copyright of a book is Rs 500 per work. In case of Literary or Artistic work which is used or is capable of being used in relation to any goods or services (in connection with Section 45 of Copyright Act), the application fee is Rs 2000 per work. For the purpose of change in particulars of copyright of an already copyrighted book, the fees is Rs 200 per work, and Rs 1000 per work in context with Section 45 of the Act. The application fee for license to publish or communicate to the public the work or translation is Rs. 5000 per work. The application fee for a license to produce and publish a translation of a Literary or Dramatic work in any Language is Rs 5000 per work. You can check the fee details on the Copyright Office website here.
What is the copyright period for books in India?
When we talk about exclusive rights and protection for copyrighted books, people often have a common question – Until when? Is the exclusive right available for a few years or for a lifetime? The answer lies with Section 22 of the Copyright Act which lays the term of copyright in published literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. According to the said provision, copyright begins on the date of publication, subsists during the lifetime of the author, and goes upto 60 years after the death of the author. So for example, this legal blog is published today, so the copyright begins right here, and if I, Ridhi Khurana, die today, the right for protection of this legal blog against anyone copying the work will subsist for the upcoming 60 years.
