INTRODUCTION:

According to Sec 2(xx), Sound recordings are the recordings of sounds from which the sounds may be produced regardless of the medium on which such recording is made. Ex- the phonographs and the CD-ROM. Sound recordings are process involving the electrical, mechanical and the digital inscription to recreate the sound waves. The sound recording producers are the one who records the sound and refine them. They used to gather the lyrics and merge them, they used to rewrite and play instruments. There are laws under which these sound recordings can be saved to protect the Intellectual Property Rights. As earlier there are no laws so these could easily be taken by another person.

HISTORY:

The sound recording began in the 1877 when the Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph. It is a sheet of tin which is rolled in the cylindrical drum. After 10 years the Alexander Graham Bell and the Charles Tainter developed the wax cylinder phonograph. Here the hard wax surface will replace the tin foil. Then the Emil Berliner make some changes and put the disc in place of the cylinder, and when the recording was done it was put in the acid bath. He discovered the copies both in the negative and the positive versions. Then the period of the industrialization came and the first version to be recorded is the operas of the Puccini. After this the vocal and the operas record changed these classical recording techniques. The technology of the Jazz also invented. After this as the companies grow and the recordings were done behind the cameras then to maintain the privacy and the secrecy they demanded to legislate a law, then the people used to adopt the different approaches live recordings and the tape recordings2.

LAWS TO PROTECT THE SOUND RECORDING:

The copyright Act is one of the intellectual properties which protect the sound recordings. The copyright is the form of the intellectual property right which gave the ownership to author and the composer of the original work and if anybody tries to infringe their copyright then they will be liable under this Act. This an exclusive rights and According to the section 13 of Copyright Act it is applicable on the following classes of the people-

1. Original literacy, dramatic , musical and the Artistic work

2. Cinematography Films

3. Sound recordings

This sound recording provision was added by the amendment Act of the Parliament no. 38 of 1994 and comes in effect from the 10/5/1995.

According to the section 14(e) 3 of the Copyright Act: the meaning of copyright in case of the sound recordings are-

1. Making of sound recordings and including the storing it any medium whether electronics or not.

2. To sell or to make any offer of sale of any copy of the sound recording.

3. To communicate the sound recording to the public.

According to the section 2(d) the author should be the first owner and for sound recordings the producers are considered as their authors. There is a difference between the music and the music recordings, the copyright of the music vests in the composer whereas the copyright of the music recordings are vested in the producers. And if he the same person to compose and make the recordings then he have the 2 copyrights simultaneously.

In the case of the Music broadcast private limited vs. Indian performing right society (AIR 2011)

“The court upheld the rights of the music companies over sound recordings, to the exclusion of the lyricists and the composers whose work were the underlying materials for the sound recordings.”

RIGHTS CONFERED BY THE COPYRIGHT:

1. Statutory rights: The copyright is the derived from the statues and the rights are clearly mentioned in the section 14 of copyright and its clause (e) specifically for the sound recordings.

2. Negative rights: This stops the others from exploiting the rights of the author for their own benefits without taking the prior consent and the license from the owner.

3. Multiple rights: If a person is engaged in 2 or more types of work under the subject matter of the copyright then the author have the multiples rights under the copyright like the sound recording and the cinematographic films.

4. Economics rights: The section 14 clearly states that the author has done some work to gain the economic benefits and if the anyone wants to use, they have to take the prior permission of the author as well as pay the royalty and the other lump-sum amount.

According to the section 274 of the Copyright Act, it provides for the term of the copyright in sound recording is the sixty years from the beginning of the next calendar year from the year in which the work was first to be published.

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3. The copyright amendment Act 1957, Act no. 14 of the 1957, Act of Parliament 1957,(India).

4. ibid 3.

Section 31-D of the copyright Act provides the statutory license for broadcasting of the literary and musical works and sound recordings.

In this section if any broadcasting organization want to communicate the public about these works then they have to follow a procedure-

1. They have to give the prior notice to the organization and stating that what are the time duration and the territorial coverage. They also have to pay the royalties as fixed by the Appellant Board.

2. The rates to broadcast from the radio and television shall be different.

3. On fixing the above rates the broadcasting organization have to pay the owner in advance.

4. The name of the authors and the principal performers shall be announced with the broadcasting members.

5. The broadcasting organization have to make such records and books and render the owner to inspects them all the books related to the broadcast.

INFRINGMENT OF THE SOUND RECORDING:

The home taping is the most common form of the infringement in sound recording. Since it is done by the people from their homes, so, it’s become so difficult to take action against them. But there are some exceptions to infringement of the sound recording.

Section 52(1) (k) it provides the 2 cases where the infringement is not said to be done:

1. Where the recording has been played in the enclosed room or hall which is used as a resident purpose. But it should not be used for any commercial purpose or any commercial resident.

2. Used by a club or a similar organization, where this is not done in order to gain the monetary benefit.

REMEDIES IN CASE OF INFRINGEMENT:

There are three kinds of the remedies against the infringement of the copyright:

1. Civil Remedies: It includes the Injunction, damages or account of profit, delivery of infringing copies and damages for conversion.

2. Criminal remedies: here both the imprisonment and the fine to be filed by the accused, according to the Act the minimum imprisonment are of 6 months and the maximum is of 3 years. And the fine varies from the Rs.50, 000/- to the 2 lakh. And the proceedings should be initiated with no court inferior to that of the Magistrate of the 1 class.

3. Administrative Remedies:  This includes the complaining to the registrar of the copyright to ban the import of the copies in the India. And by any other means as the registrar may deem fit, or to bring back all the copies to the owner of the copyright5.

CONCLUSION:

Nowadays, the sound recordings and their production are increasing day by day and the infringements by making their duplicates and copying by using different techniques. As the copyright provides both the right and the remedies but it is a growing field for which new legislation should be made which provides all the rights, procedure and the remedies in the detail.

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1. 5. Dr. B.L.Wadhera, Law Relating to the Intellectual Property Rights, pg. no.342, universal, lexis nexis 2018.