The digital era has thrown open a new realm of possibilities that were beyond one’s imagination once upon a time. For instance, what used to be available to us in the morning as a crisp newspaper is now available in digital form as “internet editions”. In the course of reading, if you find an article or item interesting you have the additional advantage of copying the link to the article or item and sending it to your friends. The consumer is benefited here for reasons of easy access and wider reach.
But in this grand scheme of things, the contributor and his rights are sadly ignored. Does a freelancer in India have any copyright in his contribution to a newspaper? Does the Indian copyright law balance a freelancer’s copyright in his contribution to a newspaper with that of the publisher’s copyright in the newspaper?
Unlike the Indian copyright law, the US copyright law specifically protects a freelancer’s copyright. With the advent of internet and electronic medium, the power of authors of copyrighted works to control their creations to a free-for-all status. A section of academicians of information to proceed uninterrupted.
Should copyright take the back seat in this race of law and technology? If not, how should the electronic rights of authors of literary, dramatic and artistic works be protected? Should we have collective administration societies to administer such rights? These would be just a few distributing concerns of rights holders in the electronic context. It is time that the legislators plugged the loopholes in the Indian copyright law. Till then freelancers in India will not be able to do anything about their contributions being electronically exploited by publishers.
Post Contributed By:
Abhishek Bhargava
Indian Institute of Legal Studies
