Chapter VII of the Annual Intellectual Property Report 2017-18 deals with Copyright. The administration of the Copyright office has been brought under the jurisdiction of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks in 2016-17.
- Several steps have been taken to improve the efficiency of the Copyright Office through computerization and restructuring of registration process.
- During 2017-18, a special drive was undertaken to remove pendency in examination and disposal.
- During 2017-18, filing of applications for copyright protection increased by 7.4% and number of applications examined increased by 92.7% as compared to 2016-17.
- Pendency of Examination has dropped down to 1 month compared to 13 month in 2017.
- Registration of Copyright has increased by 456% while final disposal of applications increased by 631%, as compared to last year.
- To increase transparency, the Copyright Office has started displaying the applications received during the month, pendency and disposal on their official website.
- To promote stakeholder participation, the Copyright Office now allows the applicants to track the status of their application online.
| Year | Total Applications Received | Total
Applications Examined |
Register of Copyright
(ROC) generated |
Discrepant Letter Issued |
Total Disposal |
| 2016-17 | 16617 | 16584 | 3596 | 12988 | 5444 |
| 2017-18 | 17841 | 34388 | 19997 | 29309 | 39799 |
Overall IPR Trends in 2017-18:
| Year | 2016-17 | 2017-18 |
| Patents | 9,847
(30,271) |
13,045
(47,695) |
| Trademark | 2,50,070
(2,90,444) |
3,00,913
(5,55,777) |
| Designs | 8,276
(8,332) |
10,020
(1,07,88) |
| Copyright | 3,596 | 19,997
(39,799) |
| Geographical Indication | 34 | 25 |
Steps for the future: The Draft Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2019
- The Indian Government has proposed the Draft Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2019 which seeks to digitize certain provisions that could have only been done manually.
- The draft also seeks to amend Rule 7(1) and Rule 18 to allow the copy of registration that is sent under Rule 7 and Rule 17 to be sent in electronic form (application for license for works withheld from public and application for license for benefit of disabled).
- The draft also introduces the provision for online communication by amending Rule 82 to allow the Board, the Copyright office and the Registrar of copyright to send written intimations in electronic form.
- The draft amendment seeks to change Rule 83 of the Copyright Rules, 2013 to allow online payment of the fees of registration.