(1) The author or publisher of, or the owner of or other person interested in the copyright in, any work may make an application in the prescribed form accompanied by the prescribed fee to the Registrar of Copyrights for entering particulars of the work in the Register of Copyrights:
1[Provided that in respect of an artistic work which is used or is capable of being used in 2[relation to any goods or services], the application shall include a statement to that effect and shall be accompanied by a certificate from the Registrar of Trade Marks referred to in 3[section 3 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (47 of 1999)], to the effect that no trade mark identical with or deceptively similar to such artistic work has been registered under that Act in the name of, or that no application has been made under that Act for such registration by, any person other than the applicant.]
(2) On receipt of an application in respect of any work under sub-section (1), the Registrar of Copyrights may, after holding such inquiry as he may deem fit, enter the particulars of the work in the Register of Copyrights.
1[Provided that in respect of an artistic work which is used or is capable of being used in 2[relation to any goods or services], the application shall include a statement to that effect and shall be accompanied by a certificate from the Registrar of Trade Marks referred to in 3[section 3 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (47 of 1999)], to the effect that no trade mark identical with or deceptively similar to such artistic work has been registered under that Act in the name of, or that no application has been made under that Act for such registration by, any person other than the applicant.]
(2) On receipt of an application in respect of any work under sub-section (1), the Registrar of Copyrights may, after holding such inquiry as he may deem fit, enter the particulars of the work in the Register of Copyrights.
Source footnotes
1. The proviso added by Act 23 of 1983, s. 16 (w.e.f. 9-8-1984).2. Subs. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 31, for "relation to any goods" (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
3. Subs. by s. 31, ibid., for "section 4 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 (43 of 1958)" (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
India Code, Government of India. Text fetched 10 Oct 2026. Check the linked official text and subsequent notifications when applying a provision.