Ministry of Commerce & Industry Notifies Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021

Ministry of Commerce & Industry Notifies Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021

The Ministry of Commerce & Industry (Central Government) has issued notification regarding Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021 amending the Copyright Rules, 2013. The amendments have been introduced with the objective of bringing accountability and transparency.

In India, the copyright regime is governed by the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Copyright Rules, 2013. The Copyright Rules, 2013 were last amended in the year 2016.

The Commerce & Industry Ministry stated that "The amendments have been introduced with the objective of bringing the existing rules in parity with other relevant legislation."

It is predicted that this move of the Ministry is going to be quite beneficial to the members of the copyright societies who are essentially artists, lyricists, musicians, singers, and the like.

The amendment also aims to ensure smooth and flawless compliance of the technological advancement in the digital era and promoted electronic means including primary mode of communication and working in the Copyright Office.

It also introduced a new provision related to the publication of the copyrights journal eliminating the requirement of publication in the Official Gazette. It further dealt with undistributed royalty amounts and the use of electronic and traceable payment methods while collecting and distributing royalties.

Now, the copyright societies require drawing up and making public an Annual Transparency Report for each financial year. The applicant has granted the liberty to file the first 10 and last 10 pages of source code or the entire source code if less than 20 pages, with no blocked out or redacted portions.

The time limit for the Central Government to respond to an application made before it for registration as a copyright society is extended to one hundred and eighty days.