Author's Rights and Obligations
Are advertisements copyrightable?
To be protected under the Act advertisements like all other creative work must satisfy the following four conditions2:
1) Original-it must not be copied from another.
2) The work must not have been commonplace that is, in the public domain.
3) The work must be a form expression and not a mere idea-there is no copyright in ideas.
4) The work must involve labor, skill and capital.
As per section 13 of the copyright act, 1957 copyright subsists in certain classes of work. They are
a) Original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works;
b) Cinematographic films and
c) Sound recording.
An advertisement has various components involving literary, artistic, dramatic, musical skills each of which may be protected under the classes of work mentioned in section 13 of the Copyright Act, 1957. The protection however is given upon satisfaction of the four above-mentioned conditions.
