Copyright Registration Process

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Lasya Pamidi

Copyright Registration
IP
Legal
Last updated on April 30th, 2021

Copyright registration process is a simple process which legally protects your work and prevents any unauthorised usage. Additionally, a copyright gives the owner of the subject an exclusive right over his work. You can copyright all kinds of bookish and artistic work including your website and computer program. The copyright act, 1957 protects you from any copyright infringement. 

Steps to complete your Copyright Registration Process

  1. Filing an Application

    Applicant can file an application either physically in the copyrights office or through speed/registered post or through e-filing facility available on the copyright.gov.in website. Applicant must fill in concerned forms along with the particular of his copyrightable work and also submit all the other essential documents

  2. Pay Applicable fee

    The requisite fee must be paid when you are filing the application. You can pay through a demand draft (DD) or Indian postal order (IPO) addressed to the Registrar of Copyright Payable at New Delhi or also through the e-payment facility.

  3. Submission of Application

    The applicant must sign all the forms. The application must be submitted by the Advocate under whose name Power of Attorney has been executed.

  4. Issue of Dairy No.

    The registrar will issue a Dairy No. and then there is a mandatory waiting time for a period of 30 days for potential discrepancies and/or objections.

  5. Objection

    The public have an opportunity to object a particular registration. If any objections are raised, then the registrar sends a notice to both parties calling them for a hearing. The hearing officer may reject the objection and send the application for the discrepancy procedure. If the hearing officer accepts the objection, he may reject your application and also send you a copyright rejection letter. As a result for such applicant, the copyright registration procedure ends here.

  6. Discrepancy Procedure

    The examiner goes ahead to review and scrutinise the application to find any discrepancy if there are no objections. The applicant has the right address any discrepancies found in his application.

  7. Certificate of Registration

    Once completely satisfied with the copyright claim made by the applicant, then the Registrar of Copyrights then enters the details of the copyright into the register of copyrights and issues a certificate of registration. 

FAQs

How long does it take for copyright registration?

Considering the various factors, including objection, the entire process can take up to 6-8 months approximately.

After applying for a copyright, if someone else copies my content, is there any protection?

Yes, absolutely. You must immediately send a legal notice and after sending the notice, if the problem does not get resolved, you can then file a case against the other side in a court of law.

What happens if the discrepancy in application is not addressed?

The application will be abandoned when the discrepancy is not addressed within the said timeline (Usually 30 days)

Got Questions? Ask Away!

  1. Hey @Dia_malhotra, Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names, and images used in commerce.