A Brief Analysis Of Compulsory Licensing Pertinent To Copyright Law

Introduction

As the title suggests, this particular blog deals with the compulsory licensing of copyright in our country. However, in order to understand compulsory licensing, the concept pertinent to "licenses" needs to be grasped first. Licenses are of two categories: one being voluntary license and the other being compulsory license. Section 30 of the Copyright Act, 1957¹ talks about voluntary licensing. A voluntary license is simply the transfer of rights from the existing owner to a person who wishes to utilize the work without being blamed for any sort of violation or infringement of the rights of the actual owner of that particular work.

A compulsory license is generally granted to an act but it does not mandate any prior permission from the owner of that particular work. Thus, the person to whom the compulsory license is granted can exclusively use the rights originating from the work without the fear of violating or infringing the author's