O R D E R

The legal conundrums under the Copyright Act, 1957 (in short 'the Act') raised in this petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C are as follows :

(i) Can a person claim copyright over an unpublished artistic work under the provisions of the Act ?

(ii) Can a Chief Editor, Executive Editor, Managing Editor et. al. of a publication be prosecuted for the alleged infringement of copyright under the Act ?

2. Relevant facts are thus :

The complainant approached the learned Magistrate with a grievance that the petitioners/accused infringed his copyright and thereby committed an offence under Section 63 of the Act. And therefore he requested the Magistrate to take cognizance of the offence under Section 70 of the Act.

3. Complainant is a freelance professional photographer. He claimed to have earned national as well as international reputation as a photographer. Complainant is the author of a photograph of Sri.M.T.Vasudevan Nair, a renowned malayalam litterateur. Complainant had taken a photograph of Sri.M.T.Vasudevan Nair in the year 1996. Complainant used his intellectual skill in photography to make the photograph a unique artistic work. Accused are persons connected with “Bashaposhini