In the Modern era, the concept of intellectual property is a matter of significance, and copyright (CR) is a great part of it. Copyright provides the author and the creator of the original works a negative right on literature, dramatics, musical art, cinematograph, and sound recording. By virtue of modern technology among intellectual property, CR is getting more important. Though there is The Copyright Act, 2000 (CA) in Bangladesh is going to be difficult to protect copyright for some defect in the act and the lack of necessary scheme and mechanisms of the government. It is proper time to protect the authors and the creators of copyright by preventing the infringement of copyright through various measures of the state. To protect copyright state should take steps to implement The Copyright Act, 2000 (CA) and it is needed to make some necessary amendments in the present act. Through this research, the researcher tries to highlight the current copyright status of Bangladesh, an overview of The Copyright Act, 2000 (CA), impediments, and solutions to remove the impediments.
Copyright, the important part of intellectual property right is assuming an increasing role and importance in international trade, in investment, in economic relations and in socio-economic and cultural growth. Copyright, deals with creations of the human intellect (Gaurav Mehrotha, 2002), which is a powerful stimulus for intellectual creativity . Copyright is a legal concept which is created by the statute. Copyright is a negative right which prevents physical material from being copied existing in the area of arts and literature. Copyright does not exist in ideas (Debroy, Bibek, 1998) . The CA provides protection for the works literary, dramatic, musical and artistic which are original in nature and also for cinematograph films and sound recording (Modak, 2008) . Copyright gives the author of the work to be credited and to determine who may modify the work to other forms, who may perform the work, who may be financially benefited from it and other related mono-poly rights (Super Cassette Industries Ltd, 2008) .The state should endeavour to create such a platform in which intellectual and physical labour in each form, shall become a complete evolution of creative effort and also of the human personality (Gopal Das, 1938) . The aim of this law is to give the creator of original work a monopolistic right in their deeds for certain hour of time and facilitate them to earn financial profit and reputation.
2. Objectives of the Copyright Law
The motive of this law is to save the proprietor of the work from an unlawful reproduction or exploitation of his work by others (Hosen, 2017) . CR law encourages authors, composers and artists to create original work by awarding them with monopolistic right for specific period. They can earn financial benefits by reproducing the works for publishing and selling them to public. The first work is protected from being unlawfully reproduced or exploited by unauthorized persons (Mohammad, 2013) . Copyright provides the owners, for their original works, universal recognition. When any person creates something at first instance with his efficiency and labour, it generally associates to him and the others are prevented to make any financial gain out of the efficiency and labour the first author without his consent (Monirul Azam, 2008) . Copyright provides the owner a monopolistic right by which he is enti-tled to prevent third parties from doing that which the owner is solely allowed to do under the Act (Narayanan, 2017) .
3. Sketch of the Copyright Act, 2000
3.1 Copyright
Copyright primarily means right of multiplying copies of main work by the person who creates a work at the first instance. As a natural consequence, it excludes unauthorized person from multiplying copies (Shringar cinemas Ltd, 2008) . Copyright is originated by the statute and by no other ways. No person is claimant to copyright or any similar right in any creative work except those given by this Act. Mere ideas or thoughts are not safeguarded by copyright. Only when the ideas are expressed in any real form of works it is covered with preservation of the copyright. Mere taking of the ideas of any other person is not called infringement of copyright (Singh, 2013) . Copyright is a monopolistic right of the creator of work who has the authority to stop other persons from taking advantage of the work without his will. It creates a check and balance between the claim and power of the proprietor and that of the public in preserving the public domain, or claiming the copyright and giving protect it by the copyright law (The Constitution of Bangladesh, 1972) . Section 15 of the CA define copyright like -
In accordance with the act, copyright means the monopolistic right, doing any of the deeds mentioned below in contact to a work or any substantial part of it namely;
3.1.1 Literary Works: Literary works expressed in printing or writing irrespective of the question whet-her the excellence of style is high (The Copyright Act, 2000) Literary works includes works on hum-anity, religious, social scientific and any other writ-ten book, composed, translated, converted, adapted, creative, research, factual and shall also include computer programmes, tables and creative compi-lations including computer databases (Time Warner Entertainment Co. L.P, 2007) . In Celador Productions Ltd v Gaurav Mehrotha (Walter v. Lane, 1900) a form of telephone quiz programme called Kaun Banega Crorepatiwas hijacked by the defendant. When the logos, names and identical photographs of the plaintiff and of the respondent deceptively resemble to that of the respondent the court grants and decree of injunction.
3.1.2 Dramatic Work: Dramatic works includes any piece for recitation, choreographic work or entertainment in dumb show, the scenic arrangement or acting from which is fixed in writing or otherwise but excludes a cinematograph film . Although a cinematographic film is not a dramatic work, the script thereof is a dramatic work .
3.1.3 Musical Works: Musical work means a work consisting of music and includes any graphical idea of such work but excludes words or any deed designed for singing, delivered or played with the music . In Edmond v. Stern, It was decided that for the safeguard of work of music to be safeguarded, it ought to be original and novel but an adaptation may have copyright protection.
3.1.4 Artistic works: Artistic works means:
3.1.5 Cinematograph Film: Generally, cinematograph means any work created by any instrumental procedure or by radio-diffusion. It also includes imitation of film, together with a photograph of any picture of storing part of it; or reserving of it in any way by electronic or various means.
3.1.6 Sound Recording: Sound recording is a recording of sound by any medium and from which that sounds is capable of being produced by any method. It also means creating any other kind of sound recording and let it be used by selling or letting on hire any imitation of the sound recording, or communicating the sound recording to mass people, etc.4
3.2 Copyright (CR) Registration
In Bangladesh registration of CR is not mandatory it depends on the will of the creators or authors. It is not condition precedent for acquiring proprietorship of CR to original creation. In a case Walter v. Lane, the House of Lords had decided that, for securing CR protection to a deed registration of the deed is not mandatory. According to section 56 of The CA the steps of CR registration is-
3.3 Duration of Copyright (CR) Protection
Copyright of the creator does not continue for indefinite time. The law secures copyright for a certain phase of time during which the rights of the proprietor exist and the proprietor can exclusively enjoy the right during that time. The time is calculated from the day of creation of the deed. CR protection is given not only over the lifetime of the person behind or creator but also for some specific phase of time after his death. It ensures the author or creator financial benefits and also for their legal heirs. The investment cost made by the persons behind or the creators for the manufacture and the spreading of their deeds are safeguarded by the CR protection.
In those states who are the member of the Berne Convention, as well as in many other countries except the member of Berne convention, the length of copyright provided for by national law is the life of the creator and not less than fifty Yrs after the death of the author. In current Yrs, a trend has emerged regarding lengthening the tenure of CR protection. Length of the copyright (CR) in different forms of work has been discussed in chapter v-vi of The CA that has been stated concisely below:
3.4 Transfer of Copyright
3.4.1 Assignment: An assignment (Assnmnt) is in sprit a transfer of ownership even it is partial. It is voluntary change of proprietorship of the deed. Basically, copyright may be assigned to any third party under certain restrictions of the CA.4 The owner or author may make the Assnmnt of CR in an present deed or in a upcoming deed either to the full of his right otherwise to any piece of it with or without limitation and also for any shorter period or for the full period of the copyright. Assnmnt of CR in any upcoming deed shall not be effective until the deed comes into reality. After the creation of Assnmnt the assignee is entitled to that rights included in CR which have been transferred to him and the remaining rights included in CR belongs to the assignor. He is treated as proprietor of such remaining right by the CA and the rules of this CA shall have consequence accordingly.
Conditions need to be fulfilled for making an Assnmnt as follows:
3.4.2 License: The CR owner may transfer any of the interest in the CR granting through license to others in his existing and future works. The license deed shall be signed by duly authorized agent or the proprietor. On condition that a license relating to CR in any present work shall be effective immediately and a license relating to CR in any upcoming work does not take effect as such it takes effect after the subsistence of the work.
Explanation: The right of a man to whom license in any upcoming work is approved shall not be terminated on the demise of that man. After his demise the right is vested to his successors unless there are any specific terms in the deed of license. The Board acting as a statutory authority can exercise its powers now and then because a compulsory license can be granted not merely to one person but to more persons.
3.5 Infringement of Copyright
The CR owner has negative right of exclusive nature to do certain act regarding the deed and to refraining others from doing unauthorized acts. The rights of creator of CR are infringed when any activities requiring approval of the creator is done by someone else without his or its consent . Copyright infringement occurs in the below mentioned circum-stances:
a) When any one, not having a license approved by the proprietor of the CR or the registering officer of copyrights according to the provision of the CA or in violation of the conditions of a license so approved or any condition imposed by the proper authority according to the CA-
(b) When any one-
For the purposes of this section, the imitation of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic deed in the form of a cinematograph film is regarded to be an infringing copy. In Gopal Das v. Jagannath prasad, the court held that nobody is entitle to avail himself of the previous labour of another for conveying to the mass people the same information, although he may append additional information to that already published .
3.5.1 Essential ingredients of infringement: When someone does any of the acts stated below without the authorization of CR owner it turns into a contravention of CR:
3.5.2 Acts that do not amount to infringement: The facts stated below do not create contravention of a CR:
3.6 Remedies
3.6.1 Civil Remedies: The court gives civil remedies for the contravention of CR by injunction, compensation, financial records and otherwise. According to the Act remedies are given to the property owner of CR by the ways mentioned above unless there is any other exception in the CA. The remedies are given only when any provision of the CA is violated. When the defendant shows that during the contravention of copyright he did not know that copyright existed in the deed and he had proper reason to trust that CR did not exist in the deed then the court shall not grant any other remedies except injunction as to the contravention of CR and order for the profit which has been earned by the opposite party through utilizing the forged copies which is reasonable according to the circumstances.
Where, as to dramatic, musical and artistic work, a name appears on the published copies of the deed regarded to be the name of the author or the publisher, which one is applicable. As to artistic deed the name appeared on the deed during the making of it shall be regarded the name of the appropriate person. The expenses of the case are paid by which party it is decided in the discretion of the court. .
3.6.1.1 Injunction: An injunction was granted where the licenses, without permission of licensor authorized third parties to take advance of the deed. Besides being an infringement, it was breach of the contractual obligation.
3.6.2 Criminal remedies: The persons, who violate the requirements of the CA, have to face the punishments which are provided by chapter 15 of The CA. Subject to section 66 of the CA all offences under the CA shall be cognizable by the Court of Session. Punishments which are imposed by different sections under the CA are stated below:
3.6.3 Administrative Remedies: When any one is aggrieved for importation of any confiscated copies from foreign countries to Bangladesh may submit an application to the Registrar to ban the import of forged copies in Bangladesh. Then the registrar shall take step to ban the importation of forged copies and delivered the seized confiscated copies to the owner of the work.4
4. Copyright Laws
4.1 Domestic Laws:
4.2 International Laws:
5. Reasons for Hardly Enforcement of Copyright Act, 2000 in Bangladesh:
In Bangladesh, Article 20 recognizes the intellectual property namely the CR and there is the CA as amended in 2005 and The CR Rules, 2006 to safeguard the deeds of the inventors and actual authors from piracy. In Bangladesh copyright is infringing randomly in addition to she is listed on the top among countries in the world in violating copyright. At present infringement through online platform is concerning along with traditional form of infringement. It is harmful for the creator, author plus for the state as a whole in communal, monetary and artistic development. The goal of the CA is to allow the creator and the author financially benefited and reputed worldwide by their works and to punish them who are involved in breach of CR. But we fail to stop infringement of CR due to absence of consciousness and proper use of CR. It is needed to create the citizens aware of CR by workshop, seminar and symposium. If citizens understand the copyright protection properly it will be helpful for the country through communal, monetary and artistic development and the authors through financial gain and reputation. Proper use of the CR laws in alliance with the digital security law and cyber law will help us to create the country acquainted with the civilized world as innovative country.
Recommendations:
Many thanks to the co-researchers for their cordial support in completion of this research and special thanks to Sharifa Yasmin Mukta Smy beloved wife and co-researcher for encouraging me to make this research successful.
The authors declared that they have no potential or competing conflicts of interest with respect of the research work.
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ENDNOTES:
Debroy. Bibek (1998) Intellectual Property Rights, Delhi-110052, B.R. Publishing Corporation, P. 124
P. Narayanan (2017) Intellectual Property Law(3rd Edition, Revised), Kolkata: Eastern Law House Pvt. Ltd., P. 255
Section 15, The Copyright Act 2000 (the CA).
Hosen, M. F. (2017). An Overview of the Copyright Protection Laws in Bangladesh-A Critical Analysis of the Copyright Act, 2000 with Its Loopholes and Recommendations. Beijing Law Review, 8, 191-211.
Article 20, The Constitution of Bangladesh 1972.
Eastern Book Co. v D.B. Modak, (2008) 1 SCC 1: AIR 2008 SC 809
Mohammad, N. (June, 2013). Intellectual Property Law in Bangladesh. Dhaka-1205: Five Jewel Publication. P.41
Singh, A. (2013). Intellectual Property Law. Lucknow: Eastern Book Company, P. 145
Time Warner Entertainment Co. L.P v. RPG Netcom: AIR 2007 Del 226: 2007 AIHC 542 NOC: 2007 (6) ALJ (NOC) 1014 DLT 758: 2007 (34) PTC 668
Walter v. Lane, 1900 AC 539: (1900-03) ALL ER Rep Ext 1666 (HL)
P. Narayanan (2017) Intellectual Property Law(3rd Edition, Revised), Kolkata: Eastern Law House Pvt. Ltd., P. 255
Singh, A. (2013). Intellectual Property Law. Lucknow: Eastern Book Company, P. 166
P. Narayanan (1997) Intellectual Property Law, (2nd Edition) Eastern Law House Pvt. Ltd., P. 223
Section 2 (46), The CA
(2002) 96 DLT 543:(2003) 26 PTC 140
Section 2 (18), The CA
P. Narayanan (2017) Intellectual Property Law(3rd Edition, Revised), Kolkata: Eastern Law House Pvt. Ltd., P. 263
Section 2 (37), The CA
1918, 879
Section 2 (36), The CA
Singh, A. (2013). Intellectual Property Law. Lucknow: Eastern Book Company, P.167
Mohammad, N. (June, 2013). Intellectual Property Law in Bangladesh. Dhaka-1205: Five Jewel Publication. P.49
Ibid, P.79
Section 24, The CA
Section 28, Ibid
Section 26, Ibid
Section 27, Ibid
Section 28A, Ibid
Section 30, Ibid
Section 31, Ibid
Section 32, Ibid
Section 33, Ibid
Section 35, Ibid
Section 38, Ibid
Section 29, Ibid
Section 18, The CA
Section 19, Ibid
Section 48, Ibid
Ibid
Entertainment Network (India) Ltd v Super Cassette Industries Ltd, (2008) 13 SSC 30
Mohammad, N. (June, 2013). Intellectual Property Law in Bangladesh. Dhaka-1205: Five Jewel Publication. P.92
Section 71, The CA
AIR 1938 All 266,
Mohammad, N. (June, 2013). Intellectual Property Law in Bangladesh. Dhaka-1205: Five Jewel Publication. P.93
Ibid. P.94
Singh, A. (2013). Intellectual Property Law. Lucknow: Eastern Book Company, P.215
Section 76, The CA
Shringar cinemas Ltd v Bharat Bala productions (p) Ltd, (2008) 3 MahLj 564.
Section 82, The CA
Ibid
Section 83, The CA
Section 84, Ibid
Ibid
Section 85, The CA
Section 87, Ibid
Section 88, Ibid
Section 89, Ibid
Mohammad, N. (June, 2013). Intellectual Property Law in Bangladesh. Dhaka-1205: Five Jewel Publication. P 43.
Article 20, The Constitution of Bangladesh, 1972
Academic Editor
Dr. Sonjoy Bishwas, Executive, Universe Publishing Group (UniversePG), California, USA
Department of Law, Gono Bishwabidyalay, Savar, Dhaka-1344, Bangladesh
Alam S, Al-Amin M, and Mukta SY. (2020). Sketch of the copyright act, 2000 in Bangladesh: enforcement, impediments, and solutions, Asian J. Soc. Sci. Leg. Stud., 2(6), 129-137. https://doi.org/10.34104/ajssls.020.01290137