The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has passed Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021, which is effective from March 30, 2021. The aforesaid Rules amend the Copyright Rules, 2013.
Key changes made vide the amendment are as follows:
- Replacement of the words in Chapter II, for the title “THE COPYRIGHT BOARD” with the title “THE APPELLATE BOARD”.
- Rule 3 of the Copyright Rules, 2013 has been substituted by the following:
“3. Appellate Board– The Chairman and other members of the Board shall be appointed as per the provisions of the Trade Marks Act, 1999;
Provided that the Technical Member of the Board for the purposes of the Act shall have the qualifications as specified in the Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other
Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2020”.
- In Rule 55(ii) after sub-rule (2), the following sub-rule shall be inserted, namely: –
“(3) The copyright society in relation to collection of royalty under sub-rule (1) and distribution of royalty under sub-rule (2) of this rule, shall create a system of payment through electronic modes and shall establish a system through which the payments so made are traceable.”
- In the principal rules, in Rule 58, after sub-rule (10), the following sub-rules shall be inserted, namely: –
“(11) A copyright society must ensure that where the royalty cannot be distributed within the time specified in sub-rule (8) as the relevant author or other owner could not be identified or located; such royalties are kept separate in the accounts of the copyright society.
(12) A copyright society must take all necessary measures to identify and locate the authors and other owners and must publish on its website, at the end of every quarter, the following information: (a) the title of the work; (b) the name of the author and other right owners of the work, as available; and (c) any other relevant information available which could assist in identifying the right holder.
(13) In case the royalty due to author and other owners remains undistributed at the end of the period of three years from the end of the financial year in which collection of the royalty occurred, the copyright society shall transfer such amount to the welfare fund of the copyright society.”
- In Rule 59, for sub-rule (7), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:
“(7) The Chairman and other members of the Governing Council shall be elected for a term of two years and shall be eligible for re-election”
- In Rule 62, after clause (viii), the following new clause shall be inserted, namely: –
“(ix) The annual transparency report as provided under rule 65A”.
- A new Rule 65A has been inserted by the Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021:
“65A. Annual transparency report. — (1) The copyright society must draw up and make public a special report to be referred to as the annual transparency report for each financial year within six months following the end of that financial year. The copyright society shall publish on its website the annual transparency report and ensure that the annual transparency report remains available on its website for at least three years.
(2) The annual transparency report must contain the following information, namely: —
(a) report on the activities in the financial year;
(b) number of refusals to grant a licence;
(c) financial information on total royalties collected;
(d) the total royalties paid to author and other owners;
(e) the total royalties collected but not yet attributed to author and other owners;
(f) the total administrative deductions made from royalty collected;
(g) the details and use of the amounts deducted for the activities conducted under the welfare scheme as provided under rule 67; and
(h) Information on amounts received from and paid to the foreign societies or organisation”.
- For Rule 82, the following rule shall be substituted, namely: –
“82. Mode of Communication by the Copyright Office, etc.— Every written intimation from the Board, the Copyright Office or the Registrar of Copyrights shall be deemed to have been duly communicated to any person if such intimation is sent to the known address of such person through electronic means or by registered post.”
- For Rule 83, the following rule shall be substituted, namely: –
“83. Fees. – (1) The fees to be paid in respect of applications or any other matters under the Act and the rules shall be those as specified in the Second Schedule.
(2) Where in respect of any matter, a fee is required to be paid under the rules, the form or the application or the request of the petition thereof, it shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.
(3) Fees may be paid electronically or by demand draft or Banker’s Cheque in favour of the Registrar of Copyrights drawn on a scheduled bank at New Delhi.
(4) Where a fee is payable in respect of filing of a document and where the document is filed without such fee or with insufficient fee, such document shall be deemed not to have been filed for the purposes of any proceedings under these rules.
(5) No fee is required to be paid for taking extracts from Register of Copyrights or indexes for official purposes by the Central Government or the State Government”.
*Tanvi Singh, Editorial Assistant has put this story together.