Published on: 21 October 2022 at 08:52 IST
Court – High Court of Kerala
Citation – Civic Chandran v/s C. Ammini Amma (1996) 16 PTC 329 (Ker.) (India)
Hon’ble High Court of Kerala has held that fair dealing in terms of infringement of the Copyrights of the work must be decided on the following factors. It is held that Hon’ble Courts may allow / permit only extracts or quotations from the work as ‘fair dealing’ in accordance with Section 52 of the Copyright Act, 1957.
- The quantum and value of the matter taken in relation to the comments or criticism;
- The purpose for which it is taken
- The likelihood of competition between the two works.
Para – 9
The term ‘fair dealing’ has not been defined as such in the Act. But Section 52(1)(a) and (b) specifically refers to ‘fair dealing’ of the work and not to re-production of the work. Accordingly, it may be reasonable to hold that the re-production of the whole work or a substantial portion of it as such will not normally be permitted and only extracts or quotations from the work will alone be permitted even as ‘fair dealing’.
In the circumstances, the quantum of extracts or quotations permissible will depend upon the circumstances of each case. It may not be proper to lay down any hard and fast rules to cover all cases where infringement of copy right is alleged on the basis of extracts or quotations from the copy-righted work.
In a case like the one on hand, court will have to take into consideration (1) the quantum and value of the matter taken in relation to the comments or criticism; (2) the purpose for which it is taken; (3) the likelihood of competition between the two works.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
Key Words – Fair Dealing, lnfringement, Likelihood of Competition.