Overview shows trend to extend broadcasters’ rights

Broadcasting of a copyrighted work in audio or visual form requires a licence from the copyright owner, who has the exclusive right to communicate or transmit the work. The broadcast rights so acquired do not affect the original copyright vested in the author of the work, which remains a separately protected right. Also, unlike copyright, the broadcaster’s right is not based upon a creative contribution to a work, but upon the economic investment made by the broadcaster in procuring the rights to broadcast.

While the Rome Convention of 1961 fixes certain minimum rights for broadcasting organizations, the Berne Convention of 1979 allows the copyright owners to authorize the broadcasting of their works or their communication in any other form, regardless of broadcast rights that have already been granted. Article 2bis of the Berne Convention leaves it to local legislation to frame conditions for copyright to be vested in broadcasting organizations. Article 14(3) of the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement also confers certain rights upon broadcasters, which are comparable to those specified in the Rome Convention.

The rights of broadcasters as discussed in section 37 of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, subsists for 25 years, restricting rebroadcast of the contents; reproduction of contents and creation of visual or sound recordings of the broadcast; and the collecting of fees for viewing such broadcast, rebroadcast or recorded contents, and for selling or hiring of any sound recording or visual recording made without licence or outside the terms of licence by the broadcaster.

Abhai Pandey is a lawyer with Lex Orbis IP Practice, a law firm specializing in intellectual property issues.