[FSF India] Copyright FAQ

Vivekananda Prabhu fsf-india@gnu.org.in
Mon, 10 Sep 2001 02:25:06 -0700 (PDT)


Hi,

Read FAQ on copyrights in the Indian context
(maintained by NASSCOM)

http://www.nasscom.org/business_in_india/copyright_faq.asp

Especially interesting is the Q & A
-----------------------------------------------------
Q)If an employee/employees in a company develop a
program, do they own the Copyright?
A)No. In the case of a program made in the course of
author's employment under a contract of service or
apprenticeship, the employer shall, in the absence of
any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of
the Copyright. 
----------------------------------------------------

Does this mean a developer as a consequence of his
being employed lose all copyrights even for the work
done on his home PC?

Further Q & A makes the issue even more ambiguous

------------------------------------------------
Q) For Copyright purposes, how is an 'employee'
defined?
A) For the purpose of ascertaining whether a hired
party is an 'employee' or an independent third party
contractor, one has to consider that the hiring party
has the right to control the means and the manner by
which work is created. Some of the factors to
determine if controls exist are- 
  
-- where the programming is performed 
-- whose equipment is used 
-- the method of remuneration 
-- the duration of relationship between the parties 
-- whether the commissioning party has the right to 
assign additional projects 
-- who provides the benefits etc. 

Also note that no single factor will be determinative.

-------------------------------------------------------

Does this mean if an employee uses his own resources
he doesn't lose copyright? Or will he lose it based on
duration of relationship between parties?

Can someone from FSF throw light on this issue?

( Interested parties can read about Indian Copyright
Act at
http://www.indianlegaleagle.com/laws/ce/copyright/index.htm)

Regards,
Vivek







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