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A movie comprises of a lot of subject matters of copyright. These include the rights of producers, performers, musicians, cinematographers, script writers etc. The scope and ambit of these rights varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and has a different scope in both USA and India.

In USA, the subject matter of a motion picture is protected by various copyrights which are owner by one person which is usually the producer of the film. The producer can be an individual, a company or a branch of the motion picture studio. The artists involved in the process i.e. screenwriters, actors, musicians etc are hired by the producers through work for hire agreements and thus the copyrights are not owned by them.

In India, the copyrights of individual subject matters in a cinematographic film are assigned to the producer or the production company. The term and conditions of this assignment depend on the agreement between the producer and the right owners.

US
The process of movie making usually starts with the script which forms the story line of the film. This is protected as a literary work. The owner of the work has the right to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies, to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work, to distribute copies of the copyrighted work to the public by sale etc. and to perform and display the copyrighted work publicly.

The screenwriters or script writers and other artists contributing to the script are considered to be hired by the movie producers for a short duration and thus the producer of the motion picture becomes the copyright owner. If such a script is adapted from an existing novel, the copyright on the novel is either assigned to the producer for making a movie out of it or the producer obtains a license to a make a derivative work out of the novel and the copyright on the novel continues to vest with its original owner.

A literary work that was created on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death. For works made for hire, the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

India
Writing of the script involves putting down the concept and story line of a film. Various artists are involved in this. These include producer, director, screenwriter, dialogue writer etc. The rights vested in each of them are then acquired by the producer as a whole. The script is protected as a literary work under the Copyright Act, 1957(Copyright Act).

The owner of a literary work has the right to reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means; issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation; perform the work in public, or communicate it to the public; make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work and make any translation or adaptation of the work. The term of copyright for literary works is author's lifetime plus 60 years. Prior to 1991, the term was author's lifetime plus 50 years.

If the script is adapted from a previously existing book, the producer gets the right in these books assigned to herself. Section 57 (1) (b) of the Copyright Act is also relevant in this regard. This deals with the special rights of authors which gives them the right to claim ownership. It states that the work cannot be distorted or mutilated or otherwise cause disrepute to the original author. If the filmmaker defaults, the author and his legal heirs can sue him under the provisions of the Copyright Act claiming violation of moral rights as they are not assignable.

US
In USA mostly the rights of existing musical works are licensed through synchronization licenses for them to be a part of the motion picture. The musical composition consists of the lyrics of the song and the composition. The author of a musical composition is generally the composer, and the lyricist is the author of the lyrics in the composition. The owner of the work has the right to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies, to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work, to distribute copies of the copyrighted work to the public by sale etc. and to perform and display the copyrighted work publicly. A musical composition that was created on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death. For works made for hire, the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

The the rights of the music composer and the lyricist in a composed song are first assigned to a music publisher. The publisher then issues licenses to record companies etc for recording the song and keeps a part of the license fee for itself and gives the rest of it to the creators of the work.

India
In India, musical works are specially composed to be featured in a specific cinematographic films. The lyrics or the words in a song that form a part of the film are protected as a piece of “literary work”. The copyright owner of this is the author of the work i.e. the lyricist. The musical compositions including background scores are protected as “musical works” .It means works consisting of music including any graphical notation of such work but does not include any words or any action intended to be sung, spoken or performed with the music, like lyrics of the songs. The owner of this musical work is the composer of the song. "Composer", in relation to a musical work, means the person who composes the music regardless of whether he records it in any form of graphical notation. For the purpose of inclusion in a film, the lyrics and musical compositions are assigned to the producer of the film.

The owner of a literary work and musical work has the right to reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means; issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation; perform the work in public, or communicate it to the public; make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work and make any translation or adaptation of the work. The term of copyright for literary works and musical works is author's lifetime plus 60 years. Prior to 1991, the term was author's lifetime plus 50 years.

US
Sound recordings were added as a separate subject matter in 1972 and were earlier known as neighboring rights. The recording company after getting a license from the music publisher, makes sound recordings of the composition and sells it. The recording company has the right to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords that directly or indirectly recapture the actual sounds fixed in the recording; prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work in which the actual sounds fixed in the sound recording are rearranged, remixed, or otherwise altered in sequence or quality; distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale etc and to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. Thus the rights of the copyright owner does not extend to the making or duplication of another sound recording that consists entirely of an independent fixation of other sounds, even though such sounds imitate or simulate those in the copyrighted sound recording. These rights do not apply to sound recordings included in educational television and radio programs distributed or transmitted by or through public broadcasting entities.

For sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, any rights or remedies under the common law or statutes of any State shall not be limited by this title until February 15, 2067. A sound recording that was created on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death. For works made for hire, the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

For sound recordings to be used in the film the producers obtain "master-use licenses" from the record company. If the recordings are specifically made for a motion picture, they are made under work for hire doctrine and thus the producer being the employer is the copyright owner of the sound recording.

India
Sound recordings are protected, regardless of the medium on which such recording is made or the method by which the sounds are produced. The owner of the recorded songs is the producer. The owner has the right to make any other sound recording embodying it, sell or give on commercial rental or offer for sale or for such rental, any copy of the sound recording and to communicate the sound recording to the public. A copyright in a sound recording subsists until sixty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which it was published. The duration was 50 years before 1991.

US
Performers' performances are entitled to copyright protection as soon as they are fixed in tangible form. Sound recordings are copyrightable; and the performers' (singers and other musicians) performances are part of the original authorship that entitles sound recordings to copyright protection. Audiovisual works and films are copyrightable; and the performers' ( actors etc.) performances are part of the original authorship that entitles those works to copyright protection. The copyright statute gives authors very strong economic rights, including exclusive rights of reproduction, adaptation, distribution and public performance. Performers can rarely claim rights under the copyright statute because virtually all copyrightable works that embody performances are works made for hire. Thus the rights of the performers or singers of the musical composition vest with the record companies.

The exclusive rights to authorize public performances of the musical composition vests with the music publisher. These include singing the song in public which varies from broadcasting rights to playing it in a restaurant. Broadcasters would include TV stations, radio stations, webcasting etc. The publisher engages the services of an intermediary i.e.Performing rights organisations (PRO) for this purpose.

India
“Performers Rights” subsist in the performances rendered by dancers, actors, singers, musicians and other artists and are protected under the Copyright Act. Section 2 (q) of the Copyright Act defines the term performance in relation to performer’s right to mean any visual or acoustic presentation made live by one or more performers. An actor, singer, musician, dancer or any other person who makes a performance is a performer within the meaning of Section 2 (qq) of the Copyright Act. However, a proviso has been inserted by the Copyright (Amendment) Act to clause (qq) of Section 2, which provides that “in a cinematograph film a person whose performance is casual or incidental in nature and, in the normal course of the practice of the industry, is not acknowledged anywhere including in the credits of the film shall not be treated as a performer except for the purpose of the clause (b) of section 38B.”

Performer’s rights have been restructured through the 2012 amendment to the Copyright Act. Performers now have the exclusive right to to make a sound recording or a visual recording of the performance (which includes reproduction of it in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic or any other means;issuance of copies of it to the public not being copies already in circulation and communication of it to the public and selling or giving it on commercial rental or offer for sale or for commercial rental any copy of the recording) and to broadcast or communicate the performance to the public except where the performance is already broadcast. Once a performer consents to the incorporation of his performance in a cinematograph film through a written contract, he shall not, in the absence of any contract to the contrary, object to the enjoyment by the producer of the film. Performers are now entitled to royalty with respect to making performances for commercial use. Furthermore, Performers are also accorded with moral rights which include right to integrity and paternity.

The performer's right shall subsist until fifty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the performance is made. This protection subsisted for 25 years before 2000.

US
The music in movies is at times accompanied with dance performances. These are protected as choreographic works the rights to which vest with the choreographers. . "Choreography is the composition and arrangement of dance movements and patterns, usually intended to be accompanied by music.To be protected by copyright, choreography does not need to tell a story or be presented before an audience." The choreography in order to be protected has to follow the fixation requirement of the US Copyright statute. It can be fixated by means of dance notations or videotapes. The owner of the work has the right to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies, to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work, to distribute copies of the copyrighted work to the public by sale etc. and to perform and display the copyrighted work publicly.

A choreographic work that was created on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death. For works made for hire, the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

India
Choreography is included in dramatic works and thus choreographer's rights are protected as authors of dramatic works. The owner of a dramatic work has the right to reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means; issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation; perform the work in public, or communicate it to the public; make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work and make any translation or adaptation of the work. The term of copyright for dramatic works is author's lifetime plus 60 years. Prior to 1991, the term was author's lifetime plus 50 years.

US
The sets used for shooting the motion picture are protected as “Pictorial,graphic and sculptural works" and various artists are involved in making and designing these. These are hired by the producer through work for hire agreements and thus the copyright to these works are owned by the producer.The owner in the work has the right to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords; prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work and distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. An artistic work that was created on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death. For works made for hire, the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

India
The sets used for shooting the motion picture are protected as artistic works and various artists are involved in making and designing these. The right of these artists are also assigned to the producer of the cinematographic film. The artist has the right to reproduce the work in any material form (which includes the storing of it in any medium by electronic or other means; or depiction in three-dimensions of a two-dimensional work; or depiction in two-dimensions of a three-dimensional work); communicate the work to the public; issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation; include the work in any cinematograph film and to make any adaptation of the work. The term of copyright for artistic works is author's lifetime plus 60 years. Prior to 1991, the term was author's lifetime plus 50 years.

US
Motion picture is defined as "an audio-visual work consisting of a series of related images which, when shown in succession, impart an impression of motion, together with accompanying sounds, if any." Motion pictures are typically embodied in film, videotape, or videodisk. Copyright in a motion picture is automatically secured when the work is created and “fixed” in a copy. Only the expression fixed in a motion picture (camera work, dialogue, sounds, and so on) is protected under copyright. Copyright does not cover the idea or concept behind a work or any characters portrayed in it. The owner of the work has the right to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies, to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work, to distribute copies of the copyrighted work to the public by sale etc. and to perform and display the copyrighted work publicly.

In USA, the subject matter of a motion picture is protected by various copyrights which are owner by one person which is usually the producer of the film. The producer can be an individual, a company or a branch of the motion picture studio. The artists involved in the process i.e. screenwriters, actors, musicians etc are hired by the producers through work for hire agreements and thus the copyrights are not owned by them. The nature of these agreements varies with the kind of contributions these artists have made to the motion picture. Artists like the actor, cinematographer,dialogue writers and other technicians get a negotiated flat fee for their work in the film. The vital contributors like the key actors negotiate a term regarding a share in the profits generated by a movie as well.

Publication of a motion picture takes place when one or more copies are distributed to the public by sale, rental, lease, or lending or when an offering is made to distribute copies to a group (wholesalers, retailers, broadcasters, motion picture distributors, and the like) for purposes of further distribution or public performance. When a motion picture is published, all the components embodied in it are also considered to be published, including the music, the script, and the sounds. Thus, if a motion picture made from a screenplay is published, the screenplay is published to the extent it is contained in the published work.

The producer has the right to distribute the copies of the work to the public. For the broadcast of the movie, the producer enters into a distribution agreement with a motion picture studio. The studio then issues licenses to different companies. The first amongst these companies is the theaters which collect box office revenues and give a share of it to the studios. Subsequently such licenses are entered into with pay TV Companies, airlines, television networks, Cable companies etc.Other ancillary licenses are also made to merchandise manufacturers for making different kind of products based on the movie, advertisers for showing clippings of the movie, record companies which produce CDs of the soundtracks of the movie, online distributors and video stores which make copies and make them available for customers to buy or rent.

In the case of '''Roy Export Co. Estab. of Vaduz v. Columbia Broadcasting Sys.''', a television news program copied one minute and 15 seconds from a 72-minute Charlie Chaplin film and used it in a news report about Chaplin’s death. The court held that the portions taken were substantial and part of the “heart” of the film and thus amounted to infringement.

India
A cinematographic film in India is defined as "any work of visual recording on any medium produced through a process from which a moving image may be produced by any means and includes a sound recording accompanying such visual recording". The owner has the right to make a copy of the film( which includes a photograph of any image forming part thereof; or storing of it in any medium by electronic or other means); sell or give on commercial rental or offer for sale or for such rental, any copy of the film and communicate the film to the public. The copyright subsists until sixty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the film is published. The term was fifty years before 1991.

Copyrights in other subject matters including but not limited to the rights of actors, dialogue writers etc are assigned to the producer of the cinematographic film. The production company then gives out distribution rights to studios, theaters etc. for screening of the film in various mediums. The scope of these rights depends on the terms of the license agreements.

In the case of Star India Private Limited Vs .Leo Burnett (India) Private Limited a telecast of commercial by the defendants (in February 2000) for a consumer product “Tide Detergent”, with a title: ‘Kyon Ki Bahu Bhi Kabhi Saas Banegi’ created a controversy, wherein the plaintiff who was the owner of television serial ‘Kyon Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’; a cinematograph film within the meaning of Section 2(f) of the Copyright Act contended that the overall impression of any viewer, who sees both the works, would be that the subsequent work of the defendants is a copy of the original work of the plaintiffs and that it was sufficient to create an impression in the minds of the viewers that the plaintiffs are whole heartedly and unreservedly endorsing the product of the defendants, who used the identical characters being played by the same artists in their commercial. The question which came for the consideration for the court was whether the commercial made by the defendants is a copy of the work of the plaintiff. The while explaining the meaning of the term ‘reproduction’ and the ‘copy of the work’, used in Section 14 with respect to the literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works or computer programmes, on one hand and that for the cinematograph film and sound recording on the other, held that their extent varies in degree only, where one confers the exclusive right to reproduce the work in any form in case of the former category of works and in the latter to make copy of the respective works, which means making of the physical copy of the film itself.

The controversy in India regarding rights of authors in cinematographic films
The practice in the Indian film industry had been that the rights of authors (music composers, lyricist, script writers) were to be assigned by the authors to the producers of the cinematographic film for a payment of lump sum amount. This practice was upheld in the decision of the apex court in Indian Performing Rights Society v. Eastern India Motion Picture Association  where the Supreme Court, on the basis of Section 17(b) and 17(c) of the Copyright Act, 1957, held that the producer of the cinematograph film was the first owner of the copyright and no copyright subsists in the lyricist or the composer unless there is a contract to the contrary between them and the producer. This decision of the Supreme Court made the industry practice much stronger, after which, the producers aggressively entered into commissioning agreements where the authors gave up all their rights in the work for perpetuity.

This made the authors initiate a fight for their right in their own works. After a decade of struggle with the government, to rectify this stark inequality, the Copyright (Amendment) Act, was passed in 2012. The Amendment Act introduced a proviso in Section 17 of the Act, clearly providing that clauses (b) and (c) of the Section would have no impact on the right of the author of the work incorporated in the cinematograph.

The relevant provisions of the 2012 Act which deal with the right to royalty are with respect to the authors of underlying works incorporated into films and sound recordings are contained in Section 18 of the Copyright Act:

“Provided also that the author of the literary or musical work included in a cinematograph film shall not assign or waive the right to receive royalties to be shared on an equal basis with the assignee of copyright for the utilization of such work in any form other than for the communication to the public of the work along with the cinematograph film in a cinema hall, except to the legal heirs of the authors or to a copy right society for collection and distribution and any agreement to contrary shall be void:

Provided also that the author of the literary or musical work included in the sound recording but not forming part of any cinematograph film shall not assign or waive the right to receive royalties to be shared on an equal basis with the assignee of copyright for any utilization of such work except to the legal heirs of the authors or to a collecting society for collection and distribution and any assignment to the contrary shall be void.”

Three new sub-clauses have been inserted into Section 19 of the Copyright Act:

“19(8).The assignment of copyright in any work contrary to the terms and conditions of the rights already assigned to a copyright society in which the author of the work is a member shall be void.

19(9). No assignment of copyright in any work to make a cinematograph film shall affect the right of the author of the work to claim an equal share of royalties and consideration payable in case of utilization of the work in any form other than for the communication to the public of the work, along with the cinematograph film in a cinema hall.

19(10). No assignment of the copyright in any work to make a sound recording which does not form part of any cinematograph film shall affect the right of the author of the work to claim an equal share of royalties and consideration payable for any utilization of such work in any form.”

The amendment to Section 18 also disallows the assignment of copyright in a manner which allows the assignee to exploit the copyright assigned to it via unspecified ‘future technologies’ i.e. any medium or mode of exploitation of a work which did not exist or was not in commercial use when the assignment was signed. This permits the authors to reserve the right of exploitation of their work via future technologies.