Recognition to Implementation: Bridging the Gap in Moral Rights Protection under Indian Copyright Law

Abstract

Intellectual Property Rights have reflected itself as a new developing dimension in the legal field, and its development aims to address the challenges related to Intellectual property. Moral rights are the legal recognition of the moral aspect of intellectual property law, which remains with the author even after transferring or assigning the legal rights to someone else. In India, moral rights got their recognition under the Copyrights Rights Act of 1957. The present paper discusses the effectiveness of the law in this regard and examines the available legal framework of Indian intellectual property laws. It also attempts to understand the role of the judiciary in strengthening and preserving the moral aspect of law concerning copyright law. The study forms its basis by analysing the existing legal framework and intervention of the judiciary in this regard. The methods used in this regard are analytical and doctrinal. Moral rights are reflected as the personality of the author. In this paper, we found that there are various aspects and challenges that require attention at both the judiciary and legislature levels. Moral rights are a significant aspect of copyright, but no more consideration was given to the question of moral rights. The moral foundations of copyright have been explored via a variety of illuminating case laws and international treaties under different jurisdictions. As it is depicted as a part of the intellectual property rights law, its complete segregation is impossible. Also, much remains to be done to cope with the development of the moral rights law.