Copyright registration: your work on the official register.
Diary number on day one.

Our fee starts at ₹1,999 for one work, plus the government fee: ₹500 per literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (software is filed as a literary work), ₹2,000 for a literary or artistic work used in relation to goods or services, ₹2,000 for a sound recording and ₹5,000 for a cinematograph film. Artwork used on goods also needs a trademark search certificate, whose government fee is ₹9,000. We give you the all-in figure before filing.

The diary number comes on the day of filing. The Rules then require a 30-day waiting period for objections, after which the application is examined. A clean application commonly reaches the certificate in 6 to 12 months; a discrepancy letter or an objection adds the time it takes to resolve. The registration, once granted, dates back to the application.

No. Under the Copyright Act 1957, copyright arises the moment an original work is created and fixed in some form, and it lasts whether or not it is registered. Registration puts the work on the official Register of Copyrights, and the certificate is prima facie evidence of the facts entered in it. In practice that is what wins a takedown request, an app store dispute or the first hearing in court.

Yes. A computer programme is a literary work under the Act. The application is filed with the source code, the first ten and last ten pages or the entire code if it is under twenty pages, with no portion blocked out. The fee is ₹500 per work. A new version with substantial changes can be registered as a separate work.

Both, for different reasons. A trademark protects the logo as a brand identifier in the classes you file in; copyright protects the artwork itself in every context. If the logo is used on goods or services, the copyright application must carry a search certificate from the Trade Marks Registry, obtained in Form TM-C, and the fee is ₹2,000 instead of ₹500. We usually file the trademark first and the copyright alongside it.

Whoever owns the work. The author is the first owner unless the work was made by an employee in the course of employment, in which case the employer owns it, or unless the author has assigned it in writing. A company that commissioned work from a freelancer needs a signed assignment before it can apply in its own name. The application names both the author and the owner, with a no-objection from the author where they differ.

Rule 70 of the Copyright Rules 2013 requires every application to wait 30 days from receipt so that any person who claims an interest in the work can object. If an objection is filed, the Registrar hears both sides before deciding whether to register. If none is filed, the application goes to the examiner.

It is the examiner's list of what is missing or inconsistent: an unclear copy of the work, a mismatch between the author and the applicant without an assignment, a missing publisher's no-objection, or the trademark search certificate for artwork used on goods. The reply is due within 30 days. We draft and file it, and we tell you the moment the letter arrives.

For a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, the life of the author plus 60 years from the year after their death. For a cinematograph film, a sound recording, a photograph, an anonymous work or a government work, 60 years from the year after first publication. There is nothing to renew.

Copyright itself is. India is a member of the Berne Convention, so an Indian work is protected in every member country without a separate registration, and the Indian certificate is useful evidence there. A few countries, the United States among them, have their own registration systems with procedural advantages for registered works, which we can arrange through a local attorney if a dispute arises there.