27/10/2022
Are you a Singer or a Songwriter?
Then you ought to protect your work from getting stolen!
Copyright in any work gives legal rights to a person over his or her creation against copying or stealing his work.
It is important to note that your work is copyrighted the moment you write it on paper or record it.
However, to get your song the full benefit of copyright protection, it is advisable to register it.
The Copyright Act, of 1957 lays down the laws relating to copyright in India.
I am listing the procedure here for your ease-
👉 Fill out form XVI , which is the application, along with the prescribed fees to the Registrar of Copyrights.
👉 If the owner applies, he should also file a No Objection Certificate by the other authors i.e. lyricist, composer, etc.
👉 The applicant should give notice to everyone who claims to have an interest in the subject matter of the copyright.
👉 When the registrar is satisfied with all the particulars of the application, he will make an entry of the copyright.
👉 If not, he will hold an inquiry and then accept/reject the application after giving the chance of being heard.
👉 The registration is complete when the registrar signs the copy of the entry of the copyright in his register.
Copyright in literary and musical works will last for sixty years from the date of publication or for the author's lifetime, plus sixty years after his death.
Efforts of many people such as a singer, lyricists, composers, etc. go into the making of a song.
Therefore, The owner of each part can get a copyright on his/her part in the song.
If a single individual writes, composes, and sings a song, he has copyright to the entire song.
As a lawyer engaged with production houses and musicians, I strongly advise copyright registration. For any help, do reach out via DM.
