Arjun is a well-known writer. In 2015, he wrote an original novel titled "The Silent River". The book was first published in India in 2016. In 2018, a film company called Meera Films Pvt. Ltd. took written permission fro

CS Executive · Economic, Commercial and Intellectual Property Laws · PYQS · June 2026
Arjun is a well-known writer. In 2015, he wrote an original novel titled "The Silent River". The book was first published in India in 2016. In 2018, a film company called Meera Films Pvt. Ltd. took written permission from Arjun to make a movie based on his novel. However, their agreement did not clearly mention satellite broadcasting rights (such as showing the film on television). In 2023, another producer released a film titled "Quiet Waters". Arjun claims that this new film is very similar to his novel. According to him, not only the main idea but also the storyline, characters and sequence of events have been copied. Further, a broadcasting company telecast the film made by Meera Films but did not pay any royalty to Arjun. The company claims that it has legal rights to broadcast the film. In fact, Arjun had not registered his copyright. The defendants argue that because the work was not registered, Arjun cannot file a copyright infringement case. Arjun wants to file suit seeking relief for copyright infringement. Based on above facts, answer the following with legal provision of Copyright Act, 1957: Whether Arjun, as the author of the novel, has moral rights even after assigning adaptation rights?

Answer & Explanation:

Section 57 of the Copyright Act, 1957 provides for Author's Special Rights (Moral Rights). Independently of the author's copyright and even after the assignment either wholly or partially of the said copyright, the author of a work has the right to claim authorship of the work and to restrain or claim damages in respect of any distortion, mutilation, modification or other acts in relation to the said work which is done before the expiration of the term of copyright if such distortion, mutilation, modification or other act would be prejudicial to his honour or reputation. Moral rights are available to the authors even after the economic rights are assigned. In the present case, Arjun assigned adaptation rights for making a film. Therefore, he still retains moral rights and can object if his work is distorted in a manner harmful to his reputation.

Topics: Intellectual Property Law

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