Authors' rights to their creative and literary works are referred to as
copyright. This legal concept guards against infringement of the owner's
copyrighted work by third parties. When the original writers' work is copied
precisely without acknowledging the owner's rights, this is called infringement.
University students frequently come into contact with copyright, particularly
when turning in assignments.
When students improperly cite or fail to properly recognise the original authors' work, they may be guilty of either direct or
indirect infringement. Fair dealing is both a defence in copyright-related legal
procedures as well as an exemption to the copyright infringement rule.
Plagiarism among students will result from their ignorance of copyright law.
This study examines the relationship between students' awareness of copyright
and their knowledge of copyright law, as well as their mindfulness of equal
protection and understanding of fair dealing. The strategy used is relayed on
the feedback provided by the respondents following their attendance at a
consumer seminar on copyright-related concerns. According to survey results,
students' awareness of copyright is influenced by their familiarity with
copyright law and fair dealing. This essay suggests additional study of the
kinds of student infractions and the factors that contribute to such unlawful behaviours.
Introduction
Copyright often refers to the "right to copy." An intellectual property right is
copyright. The collection of legal rights that belong to those who create
musical, theatrical, artistic, and literary works, as well as those who make
motion pictures and sound recordings, is known as copyright. Beginning in
January 1958, the Copyright Act of India of 1957 went into effect. This ACT has
had six amendments. The year 2012 saw the most significant change.
This Act
grants the owner of copyrighted materials the only right to reproduce, modify,
translate, perform, display, record, broadcast, and distribute those works-until
and unless they enter the public domain. It is considered an infringement when
someone else utilises such copyrighted works without the owner's express
permission.
In India, rather than protecting an idea itself, the law of copyright safeguards
the expression of a concept. The Copyright Act of 1957's Section 131 grants
copyright protection to musical, dramatic, artistic, and literary sound
recordings and motion pictures. It is not surprising that copyright owners fight
to safeguard the incentive for creative effort while educators prefer to use
such works in their lessons without having to adhere to onerous rules or pay
exorbitant licencing fees.
In essence, the legislative compromise gives
copyright owners strong safeguards against excessive or financially damaging
illegal use while allowing educators to utilise works protected by copyright in
the classroom, subject to several restrictions and exceptions.
Statement Of Problem
Statement of problem is basically about how the educational institutes are
dealing with the copyright law in India. It is also that how educational
institute on copyright laws work. What are the rules that are needed to be
followed?
Research Objective
Its objective is to explain how these laws help the writers to protect their
work, their idea of expression, and how it analyse the works which can be
included under copyright and which can be excluded.
Research Question
- What are the laws which protect authors work in a country?
- Which concept protects institution from infringing copyright laws?
- When this topic came more into picture?
Research Hypothesis
What are the new laws that came into existence after educational institutes
started making use of study materials of different publishers without taking any
permission from the author.
Research Methodology
The study is purely quantitative and talks about the benefits that are being
taken by the educational institutes without taking permission from the authors.
Scope And Limitations
The scope of this paper is that to make people aware of the Copyright Acts, how
to preserve their idea, their work and their rights towards their work. The
limitations are that till how far it is fair to use someone's idea of expression
and under which provision.
Copyright Laws In India
In India, original writers of literary, theatrical, musical, and creative works
as well as cinematic films and sound recordings are granted copyright, a type of
safeguarding their intellectual property. While ideas themselves are not
protected by copyright laws, their expressions are. Literary works, theatrical
works, musical works, artistic works, cinematography films, and sound recordings
all qualify for copyright protection under the Copyright Act of 19572. The Act
protects literary works like books and computer programs, for instance.
One of
the greatest benefits of copyright protection is that it is available in many
nations across the world, even though the work is initially published in India
due to India's membership in the Berne Convention. In regards to all nations
that are signatories to the treaties and conventions to which India is a party,
protection is given to works that were originally published in India.
Therefore,
works first published in India are protected by copyright throughout a number of
nations without the need to explicitly apply for it. The International Copyright
Order, 1999, which was enacted by the Indian government, further expanded
copyright protection to include works that were initially published outside of
India.
Copyright On Education Institutions
Nearly every area of daily life has been impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic,
which has spread to every country in the world. The greatest disruption in
history, which affected over 1.6 billion students in more than 190 nations, also
affected education systems. Classes had to be taken remotely on digital
platforms, which required a significant shift in the processes. The provision of
access to such content was challenging due to various considerations, such as
copyright, and students' access to libraries and physical instructional
materials was further restricted.
Copyright is a crucial component of education
because it is present in textbooks, academic publications, online lectures,
presentations, library collections, and research databases. Copyright is a
collection of legal and ethical privileges that authors can use to permit or
forbid the use of their works. As a result, the author may get compensated for
permitting the usage of their work.
Copyright can impede the flow of information since it offers a legal way of
excluding content, which can have an impact on how knowledge is transmitted.
As technology has lowered the barriers to sharing, copying, and creating at any
time, making us all potential publishers and distributors of content, copyright
and fair use law have come into focus. The ability to break the law has greatly
increased. Copyright is about societal duty and protection-as well as digital
citizenship-particularly in the digital era.
What's Protected And What's Not
Copyright is a little more complicated in the context of educational and
classroom settings (including online classes). If it is utilized for in-person
instruction, face-to-face instruction, and the educational institution is a non
profit, even copyrighted material may be used there.
As a result, teachers and the majority of schools enjoy pretty extensive
protections, enabling them to use movies and articles from publications like the
New York Times or Scientific American as long as they do so for educational
purposes. If you're using your learning management system for instructional
purposes and the educational facility is a non profit, you may share a link to a
recent Washington Post story, a PBS or CNN video, or both.
However, it's usually
riskier to copy and distribute other people's works-for instance, copying off
entire articles and giving them to your students. When this happens, copyright
laws are more forgiving because the information wasn't distributed to the entire
class or copied in its entirety. However, it's usually riskier to copy and
distribute other people's works-for instance, copying off entire articles and
giving them to your students.
When this happens, copyright laws are more
forgiving because the information wasn't distributed to the entire class or
copied in its entirety.
Section 52 of Copyright laws, 19573, has got similar concept that there are few
works that cannot be taken under copyright infringement.
Concept Of Fair Use
The Act of an infringement is exempt from fair use or fair dealing. The phrase
"fair use" is not defined under the Act. Depending on the specifics of each
case, the courts always interpret what "fair use" means. Anyone may use any
copyrighted content for lawful purposes without seeking the owner's permission
first, and doing so won't be viewed as an infringement.
The phrase "Fair Use"
refers to a legal exception to the author of a literary work's exclusive
copyright. Fair use allows the replication or use of a work protected by a
copyright in a way that does not violate that right. The fair use concept, a
type of creative counterpoint to copyright that promotes freedom of expression
by allowing "the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works under certain
conditions," furthers the uncertainty. Judges utilize four criteria to assess
whether something is protected by fair use in copyright disputes.
The copyright may be used without the author's express consent, according to
section 52 of the Copyright Act of 1957. As a result, the aforementioned Section
permits the lawful use of copyrighted works for the society's growth in
education, science, and culture. As perse The word "fair dealing" is not defined
by the Copyright Act of 1957; nonetheless, the Indian Courts have viewed fair
dealing as an exception and beyond the parameters that constitute infringement
of copyrightable works in numerous rulings.
Also the Courts have referred the English decision in the words of Lord Denning:
"It is impossible to define what is "fair dealing". It must be a question of
degree. You must first consider the number and extent of the quotations and
extracts.... then you must consider the use made of them....Next, you must
consider the proportions...other considerations may come into mind also. But,
after all is said and done, it is a matter of impression."4
Under Section 52 of the Copyright Act of 1957, which specifies the parameters of
fair dealing, a comprehensive list of actions is provided. The benefit of
society in achieving educational aims is the overriding goal of the fair use
theory.
Therefore, as far as educational institutions are concerned, making a photocopy
of a book for instructional purposes or using a brief excerpt to explain
something does not violate copyright and is adequately protected by the fair use
doctrine.
Consider and implement the four principles in accordance with these
recommendations to provide the strongest possible foundation for fair usage. To
assess the type of your use, one might also want to consult the Fair Use
Checklist.
Purpose; Nature; Amount
Only materials that support the needs of the designated educational programs
should be used in class. The materials shouldn't be specifically or directly
priced from the students.
The only parts of the work that are pertinent to the course's learning
objectives should be used in class. Avoid using significant excerpts from books,
stories, poems, works of modern art, and other similar items since the doctrine
of fair use applies more strictly to highly creative works. Copies of
"consumable" resources, such as exam forms and workbook sheets, that are
intended to be utilized and then repurchased shouldn't be distributed by
instructors.
The majority of the time, only condensed works or condensed portions from longer
works will be used in the classroom. A single news article, a single journal
article, or a single chapter from a book are a few examples.
The amount of work used should closely relate to the course's learning
objectives. If the copying hits the market or sales of the copyrighted material,
the instructor should take it into account. Materials used in the class should
have a copyright notice and a citation to the publication's original source.
Teacher should think about if the materials are appropriate. Whether in the form
of a book, course pack, or another format, the teacher should think about
whether the resources are reasonably accessible and affordable for students to
acquire.
Conclusion
Learning and education are not left behind in the current digital world, when
the means of exchanging any kind of knowledge depend on technology. In light of
the present pandemic crisis, it is imperative that web-based or e-learning be
promoted. A paradigm change in the education industry can be seen in the
combination of conventional educational methods and modern IT-based systems.
Increased internet use in the classroom guarantees that both students and
teachers have the widest possible access to web-based learning.
Furthermore, there are dangers at every stage of development, and in the current
environment, web-based learning anticipates copyright violation. In terms of the
conventional approach to education, the provisions of the Copyright Act of 1957
regarding fair dealing do cover educational institutions, but they are
insufficient and insufficient and do not extend the copyright's protection in
light of distant learning or web-based learning.
Legislators must therefore be
aware of the potential effects of online learning and digital access, strive for
the broadest possible exceptions that will encourage creative responses to the
industry's current problems, and then implement new legal provisions in the
Copyright Act.
Reference:
- https://www.edutopia.org/article/teachers-guide-copyright-and-fair-use/
- https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/copyrightinfo/fairuse.html
- https://www.mondaq.com/india/copyright/955608/virtual-teaching-and-copyright-how-fair-is-fair-use
- https://blog.ipleaders.in/copyrighted-materials/
- The Copyright Act, 1957
End-Notes:
- Section 13- works in which copyright subsists (The Copyright Act, 1957)
- Section 13 of Copyright Act, 1957
- Certain acts not to be infringement of copyright
- Hubbard v. Vosper
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