Doctrine Of Originality In Copyright

INTRODUCTION

Originality is the basic yardstick used by the copyright regimes in the world to evaluate the availability copyright protection to a particular work. The word "Originality" in civil law countries consider as an author's own intellectual creation. Through originality doctrine, copyright is safeguarding the public domain so that a person cannot claim for an expression. Section 13(1) of the Indian Copyright Act 1957 states that copyright subsists in "original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works." However, the Act fails to give any definition or test to determine originality of a work. This leaves the court with the duty to decide the amount originality required for a work to claim copyright protection. Two tests are to be followed to decide the "Originality" of a work:-