Copyright bill changes

The director of a film will have no copyright claims over the film, the government has decided. HT reports.

The director of a film will have no copyright claims over the film, the government has decided.

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The union cabinet on Thursday approved the HRD ministry’s proposal to delete a clause in the Copyright Bill, which allowed the film director to claim copyright over the film, alongwith the producer and the author.

The bill proposed that the producer and the principal director shall be treated jointly as the first owner of copyright.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee had recommended that the clause should be deleted following objections raised by film producers, a decision endorsed by the Cabinet.

The union cabinet accepted another recommendation of the standing committee to allow access of material protected under copyright free of cost to disabled persons.

The HRD ministry in 2010 had introduced a new Copyright Bill in Parliament to overwrite the Copyright Act of 1957. The proposed law aimed at royalty to musicians and lyricists which was allowed only for music companies or film producers.