Varied Facets of Copyright Law: Special Reference to Performer’S and Celebrity Rights

Abstract

The powerful human mind is an epicentre of lot many creations of various forms of properties which refer to as Intellectual property rights. These properties take various forms which are classified as varied intellectual property like copyright, patent, trademark etc. These are to be protected in the same manner as any physical form of property for the value attached to the same. These creations can generate a fortune for some people and be one of the best ideas of business which can make a country grow. The power is endless, but it requires protection from the countries and Governments to ensure that there is no dearth of the innovation and creation in the society for the reason of not enough protection from and widespread infringement. Thus, the countries have two main reasons to protect the IPs. Firstly, to keep the reward theory in place and not let the economic justification face any setback by way of infringement. Secondly, to keep the innovation and creativity intact in the society that leads to the developed society. Intellectual Property is divided into two broad categories i.e., the Industrial property and Copyright. When we refer to Copyright, we are specifically referring to author’s rights. The rights in the form of creations like books, music, painting, sculptures etc. The main feature of copyright is the originality and the form of expression. Unless something created is original and expressed in a tangible form and not just an idea there will be no protection granted for the same. The ideas cannot always be original, but the form of expression should always be original to gain the protection. Thus, these things make the features to create a copyright that can be protected by law. The copyrights are considered as bundle of rights and not just mere single form of right. Copyright in itself has two important rights economic and moral. The moral form of right is not available in any other form of intellectual property; this is a unique feature which remains attached to the copyright no matter it gets transferred to any other person through license or assignment. Thus, copyright is called the right given to the author and importantly referred as author’s rights. Even if the author dies the moral rights in the form of right of paternity and right of integrity. It’s not always the economic advantage that these properties create but it is also the direct link to the author and the name and fame that is to be protected in these forms of copyrights. The etymological origin of the word “moral rights,” was taken from the French term “droid moral”, which denotes the non-commercial or intrinsically attached rights to the author. This concept reduces the original economic approach to copyright with indefinite character rights.2 The basic difference when it comes to invention and literary or copyright is the form it takes the creation of mind transferred in a form of book, music, sound, painting etc and an invention would take a different form of technology that is utilised in the industries and in the market by individuals to ease the problems of the humans.