An Indian Book Company is a registered partnership firm carrying the business of publishing Law Books. It publishes and prints various books in the field of law. Among many books published by them Law Reports is one of t

In the realm of copyright law, the concepts of "ownership" and "authorship" serve as the cornerstone for determining who holds the rights to a creative work. Ownership of copyright is distinct from owning the physical object in which the work is embodied. For instance, owning a painting or a book does not automatically confer the right to reproduce or distribute the content within it. Instead, copyright belongs to the person who has fixed the original expression of an idea into a tangible form. The law recognizes the creator of this expression as the owner rather than the mere originator of the underlying idea. According to Section 17 of the Copyright Act, 1957, the author of a work shall be the first owner of the copyright therein. Author is the person who creates the original work. In the absence of any agreement, generally author becomes the owner of the copyright work. Therefore, all economic right as well as moral rights vest in him from the moment he creates the copyright work. However, in certain circumstances, the ownership issue depends on other factors. Such circumstances are covered under the copyright Act are as follow: In the case of a government work, government shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein. In the case of a work made or first published by or under the direction or control of any public undertaking, such public undertaking shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein. In the case of a literary, dramatic or artistic work made by the author in the course of his employment by the proprietor of a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical under a contract of service or apprenticeship, for the purpose of publication in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, the said proprietor shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright in the work in so far as the copyright relates to the publication of the work in any newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, or to the reproduction of the work for the purpose of its being so published, but in all other respects the author shall be the first owner of the copyright in the work. In the case of a work made in the course of the 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 therein. In the case of a photograph taken, or a painting or portrait drawn, or an engraving or a cinematograph film made, for valuable consideration at the instance of any person, such person shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein. The Indian copyright law distinguishes between authorship and copyright ownership. The person who actually employs their imagination, creativity, and intellectual faculties to write, compose, or produce the work is the author. Even if a copyrighted work was not produced under the author's supervision or while they were working for another company, they may still be its owner. A copyrighted work's ownership may vary based on the events that led to its development, but since the author was compensated for their contributions to the work, the author will always be given credit as the work's creator. The broad principle that the author is the original owner of a copyright was established by the Copyright Act of 1957. The exceptions to this provision are outlined in Section 17 of the statute, which also defines the difference between authorship and copyright ownership.