DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
POSITION OF LAW
INDIA – TO GAIN OR TO LOSE
DR. ANIRBAN MAZUMDER
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES
CALCUTTA
BACKGROUND OF COPYRIGHT LAW
• Indian Copyright Act has been amended
several times to respond to challenges posed
by the development of new technologies.
• Amendments have been made in 1983,
1984,1992,1994 and 1999 to accommodate
satellite broadcasting, computer program and
digital technology.
IMPACT OF INTERNET
• With the advent of new technologies, Internet
has become world wide duplicating machine
enabling people to make duplicate copies and
distribute them all over the world at low cost.
• International Intellectual Property Association
Special Report on India recorded loss due to
pirated musical products to $ 36.2 M and for
pirated software products to $ 1060 M.
• Whether this data is an indicator for India to
adopt widespread DRM protection measures?
INFLUENCE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
• Digital technology has not only created new
risks from right holders but also created
opportunities for widespread cost effective
distribution, as well as new tool for controlling
content.
• Number of technologies have been developed
to make digital works difficult to copy,
distribute and access without necessary
permission. These technologies are popularly
known as Digital Rights Management (DRM)
or Technology Protection Measures (TPM).
DRMs
• Access Control Method – Digital Object –
contents are encrypted and then wrapped in a
software “envelope” so that even if some one
receives a copy of it may read the envelope
but not the content without paying royalty.
• Rights Control Method – it prevents consumer
from manipulating content.
• Proprietary Viewer – it prevents consumer
from unauthorised use – if payment has been
made for viewing a material then it can not be
copied.
DRMs
• Digital Watermarks – it allows authors to trace
the source of a work and any unauthorised
distribution. If a product has watermark with
unique identifier, any copy with watermark
can be linked to the original and thereby can
be traced the source of unauthorised copies.
INTERNATIONAL TREATY
• WIPO
Copyright
Treaty
and
WIPO
Performance and Phonogram Treaty 1996 has
offered audio visual industry a legal basis to
protect their works through technological
measures.
• Contracting parties are allowed to take
adequate and effective measures for
regulating devices and services intended for
technology defeating purpose – Anti
Circumventing Provision.
• Treaty doest not define DRM, rather leaves it
on member countries to define it.
RIGHT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
• Information which identifies the work, author
of the work and any rights in the work and any
number or code that represents such
information when such information is
attached to a product or connected to any
communication to public.
• Unlike DRM, RMI does not create a right for
authors but seeks to remedy if any act induces
infringement relating to such product or
service.
COPYRIGHT ACT
• The objective of Copyright Act is to offer
balance between rights of the authors and
owners on one hand and larger public
interest, particularly education, research and
access to information.
PROPOSED AMMENDMENT
• “65A. Protection of Technological Measures
• (1) Any person who circumvents an effective technological
measure applied for the purpose of protecting any of the
rights conferred by this Act, with the intention of infringing
such rights, shall be punishable with imprisonment which
may extend to two years and shall also be liable to fine.
• (2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall prevent any person
from,—
• (a) doing anything referred to therein for a purpose not
expressly prohibited by this Act:
• Provided that any person facilitating circumvention by
another person of a technological measure for such a
purpose shall maintain a complete record of such other
person including his name, address and all relevant
particulars necessary to identify him and the purpose for
which he has been facilitated; or
PROPOSED AMMENDMENT
• (b) doing anything necessary to conduct encryption
research using a lawfully obtained
• encrypted copy; or
• (c) conducting any lawful investigation; or
• (d) doing anything necessary for the purpose of testing
the security of a computer system or a computer
network with the authorisation of its owner; or
• (e) operator; or
• (f) doing anything necessary to circumvent
technological measures intended for identification or
surveillance of a user; or
• (g) taking measures necessary in the interest of
national security”
PROPOSED AMMENDENT
• Sec 65 B – Protection of Rights Management
Information – Any person who knowingly
(i) removes or alters any Rights Management
Information without authority
(ii) distributes, imports for distribution or
communicates to public without authority copies
of any work or performance, knowing that
electronic rights management information has
been removed or altered without authority shall
be liable for imprisonment which may extend to
two years and shall also be liable to fine
PROPOSED AMMENDMENT
• Provided that if the rights management
information has been tampered with in any
work, the owner of copyright in such work
may also avail civil remedies provided under
Chapter XII of this Act against the persons
indulging in such activities.
PROPSOED AMMENDMENT
• Sec 2 xa – Rights Management Information
means
(a) the title or other information identifying the
work or performance;
(b) the name of the author or performer;
(c) the name and address of the owner of rights;
(d) terms and conditions regarding the use of the
rights; and
(e) any matter or code that represents the
information referred to in Sub-clauses (a) to (d),
but does not include any device or procedure
intended to identify the user.
WHY AMMENDMENT
• India has not signed WIPO Copyright Treaty, so it
is free from any obligation for enacting such
provision.
• These provisions creates TRIPs plus standard
which India is not obliged to create.
• It is to be assessed whether it is necessary for
India to enact such provision.
• Developed countries enter into international
intellectual property agreement only when they
are net exporter of intellectual property to
receive benefit from strengthened international
standard.
WHY AMMENDMENT
• International Intellectual Property Alliance
recommended India in 2007 to adopt standards
of WCT and WPPT.
• Hollywood entertainment studios are lobbying
for these changes for tilting balance towards
copyright owners.
• Commission on Intellectual Property, UK
observed “For developing countries where
Internet connectivity is limited and subscriptions
to online resources unaffordable, anti
circumvention legislation may exclude access to
these materials altogether and will impose heavy
burden and will delay participation of these
countries to global knowledge based society.”
OBSERVATION
• These provisions may concentrate exploitation
of copyrighted materials with powerful
corporations and it may seriously erode
common cultural heritage.
Thank you