The Government of India notified the Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021 (Amendment Rules) in the Gazette on March 30, 2021 thereby amending the Copyright Rules 2013.
Following amendments have been brought by Amendment Rules: –
- Copyright Journal will be available on the Copyright Office website only;
- The Copyright Board shall be merged with the Appellate Board;
- The timeline for approval or denial of application by Registrar of Copyrights for registration of copyright society has been increased to 180 days from 60 days;
- After their two-year terms, the chairman and other members of a copyright society’s Governing Council are eligible for re-election;
- When framed, copyright societies must publish their tariff schemes;
- Introduction of Annual Transparency Report;
- Requirement of separate account for distribution of royalties
- Transfer of royalties to welfare fund of copyright society;
- All information related to copyright society shall be published on the websites of copyright society;
- Mandated copyright societies to create system for payment of royalties through electronic modes and;
- It is sufficient to submit at-least first 10 and last 10 pages of source code, or the entire source code if less than 20 pages, with no blocked out or redacted portions.
Concluding Remarks: –
The Amendment Rules has been brought to keep parity with other legislation in India. Keeping in mind the technological changes and developments, the Amendment Rules has been brought so that the copyright holders shall not face hindrance in compliance.