Term of Copyright — Intellectual Property Rights II Notes
Term of Copyright
Copyright is a monopoly, and every monopoly the law grants comes with a clock. When the clock runs out the work enters the public domain — which is why anyone today may print Tagore or perform Beethoven for free. Knowing the two basic periods — life + 60 and 60 from publication — answers every duration question.
How long copyright lasts
The Copyright Act fixes different periods for different works, but they reduce to two rules. The count always runs from the beginning of the calendar year following the relevant event.
- Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works (published in the author’s lifetime) — the author’s life plus 60 years after his death (s.22).
- Films, sound recordings, photographs, anonymous/pseudonymous works, posthumous works, and Government / public-undertaking / international-organisation works — 60 years from publication (ss.23–29), because these have no single natural “author’s death” to measure from.
The table to memorise:
| Work | Term | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Literary/dramatic/musical/artistic (published in lifetime) | Life + 60 years | s.22 |
| Anonymous / pseudonymous works | 60 years from publication | s.23 |
| Posthumous works | 60 years from publication | s.24 |
| Photographs | 60 years from publication | s.25 |
| Cinematograph films | 60 years from publication | s.26 |
| Sound recordings | 60 years from publication | s.27 |
| Government works | 60 years from publication | s.28 |
| Public undertakings | 60 years from publication | s.28A |
| International organisations | 60 years from publication | s.29 |
Section 22: copyright in a published literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work subsists “until sixty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies.”
In Simple Terms: For a normal book/song/painting the clock is life + 60. For everything measured from publication (films, recordings, photos, anonymous and government works) it is a flat 60 years from publication.
🧩 WORKED EXAMPLE — when does a novel enter the public domain?
Facts. An author publishes a novel in 1970 and dies in 2000.
Rule. Literary work — life + 60 years, counted from the year after death (s.22).
Apply. Death in 2000; the 60 years run from 1 January 2001; they expire at the end of 2060.
Conclusion. The novel enters the public domain on 1 January 2061; until then the heirs own the copyright.
flowchart TD
ROOT["Term of copyright"]:::root
ROOT --> A["Literary/dramatic/musical/artistic — life + 60 (s.22)"]:::leaf
ROOT --> B["Films, recordings, photos — 60 from publication (s.25-27)"]:::leaf
ROOT --> C["Anonymous, posthumous, Government — 60 from publication (s.23-29)"]:::leaf
classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#000,stroke-width:1px,color:#000;
classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;
Case Laws
- RG Anand v Delux Films (1978) — cited generally for the limited, statutory nature of the copyright monopoly.
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