INTRODUCTION

Copyright is a protection given to the creators of certain types of works as an

acknowledgment to their intellectual input. he objective of copyright has always been the
protection of the interest of a creator, coupled with dissemination of knowledge. Though this
protection started with the recognition of rights of authors in their books, but modern
technology has substantially changed the nature of work and its mode of exploitation.

Assignment of Copyright (Section 18)

The owner of the copyright of a work has the right to assign his copyright to any other
person. The effect of assignment is that the assignee becomes entitled to all the rights related
to the copyright to the assigned work2. However, mere grant of right to publish and sell the
copyrighted work amounts to publishing right and not assignment of copyright.

Where the assignee of a copyright becomes entitled to any right comprised in the copyright,
he shall be treated as the owner of the copyright in respect of those rights. The assignor shall
also be treated as the owner of copyright with respect to unassigned rights. The legal
representatives of the assignee shall be entitled to the benefits of assignment, if the assignee
dies before the work comes into existence.

In Video Master v. Nishi Production,1 the Bombay High Court considered the issue whether
assignment of video rights would include the right of satellite broadcast as well. The Court
agreed with the contentions of defendant that there were different modes of communication
to the public such as terrestrial television broadcasting (Doordarshan), satellite broadcasting
and video TV. The owner of the film had separate copyright in all those modes, and he could
assign it to different persons. Thus, satellite broadcast copyright of film was a separate right
of the owner of the film and the video copyright assigned to the plaintiff would not include
this.

Adaptation

Adaptation would infringe the original work, assuming that the original work had copyright
subsist in it, in the absence of licence of owner of the copyright in the original work, but
transformation would not infringe the copyright in the original work, and it would not require

1
23 IPLR 388 (1998)
any licence from the owner of the copyright in the original work. This is because both an
adaptation and derivation would substantially rest and rely on the original work, while a
transformation would only use raw data in the original work i.e. ideas which are, in any case,
not protectable by copyright Adaptation would infringe the original work assuming that the
original had copyright subsist in it in the absence of a license from the owner of the copyright
of the original work.

In a landmark case, Blackwood v. Parasuraman,2 the court held that translation of an

original literary work would itself be considered as a literary work. Such work is entitled to
be protected under the copyright law. However, this is applicable only, if the work is original
and the writer has invested adequate effort and skills on it. It was further held that the
publication of a translation of an original copyrighted work without the consent of the owner
of the copyright would amount to infringement of copyright

2
AIR 1959 Madras 410
 AGREEMENT FOR ADAPTATION
This Agreement for Adaptation is made at New Delhi on Sixth March Two Thousand Twenty
(06.03.2019)
BETWEEN
Ms. Amina Khan, w/o, Mr. Shoaib Khan, aged around 45 years, R/o D-456, New Friends
Colony, New Delhi (hereinafter referred as ‘AUTHOR’)
AND
The Bloomsbury Publishing House, Registered Office at B-38, Bharakhambha Road, New
Delhi (hereinafter referred to as ‘PUBLISHER’)
WHEREAS the AUTHOR has written a book named ‘Grey Daze’ and is the registered
copyright holder of the same which is amongst the Bestsellers in India.
WHEREAS the book is written in English and for a mass and global read author wants it to
get translated in Spanish and French.
AND WHEREAS the terms and conditions regarding the furtherance of same Agreement are
mentioned here under:
1. The Author warrants that:
a. The work is free and clear from any counts of libel, plagiarism, privacy breach
or misrepresentation of facts
b. The work does not infringe any copyright or proprietary right and does not
contain any material of libelous nature.
c. The work is not in the Public domain and AUTHOR is the sole owner of the
work with full power to enter into this Agreement.
d. If work has been previously published in whole or in part, AUTHOR holds all
copyrights and is legally permitted to enter into this Agreement.
e. AUTHOR releases PUBLISHER from any responsibility to legal action
arising out of content of work.
2. The AUTHOR grants PUBLISHER sole and exclusive right to translate or get work
translated without any amendments or omissions of the content from the original text.
3. The PUBLISHER guarantees that:
a. No material of objectionable or libelous character not present in work will be
introduced in translation.
b. AUTHOR shall have the opportunity to check the translations for correctness
and the appropriateness prior to publication.
c. If any requested change is not made then, same shall be explained to
AUTHOR in writing.
d. PUBLISHER shall indicate a clear single line on copyright page to protect the
author’s rights.
4. AUTHOR grants PUBLISHER sole and exclusive right of publishing, distributing
and selling the translated version of book under this Agreement in hard cover, trade
paperback, mass market paperback formats in all countries worldwide.
5. AUTHOR grants PUBLISHER the right to decide the format, copy, editing style,
cover, printing, binding, date of publication etc.
 6. AUTHOR grants PUBLISHER the right to use the name of the work specified in
promotion and publicity and if needed then author’s photograph as well.
7. PUBLISHER shall complete the translation work in 6 months (SIX MONTHS) post
the signing of the Agreement. In consideration of the granted rights, the PUBLISHER
shall pay the AUTHOR as follows:
a. Royalty of cover price of Translated Version
i. 25% (TWENTY FIVE PERCENT) of the retail price of the trade
paperback
ii. 25% (TWENTY FIVE PERCENT) of the retail price of the mass
market paperback
iii. 30% (THIRTY PERCENT) of the retail price of the hard cover format
b. Royalty of 15% (FIFTEEN PERCENT) on the net revenues received through
the Agreement

8. AUTHOR shall receive 10 copies (TEN COPIES) of hardcover version,

15(FIFTEEN) each of trade paper back and mass market paperback version.
AUTHOR may purchase the translated copies at a discount of 50% (FIFTY
PERCENT) and no royalty will be paid on free author’s copies.
9. The terms of Agreement shall be for 5 years (FIVE YEARS) and shall automatically
continue for another term of 5 years (FIVE YEARS) unless either parties give a notice
in the last 3 months (THREE MONTHS) of agreement period.
10. The Agreement may not be assigned or transferred to any third party without the prior
consent of the PUBLISHER.
11. The foregoing supersedes any and all previous undertakings, constitutes the sole and
the complete agreement between parties hereto. This Agreement may not be altered or
cancelled without prior written consent.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties have set their hands and signatures into these presents
and a duplicate thereof on the date mentioned first above.

1. Sd/-

Sd/- Amina Khan

Ms. Radhika Chaturvedi AUTHOR

D/o Mr. Rakesh Chaturvedi

R/o 66-Q, New Friends Colony,

New Delhi 110025

 2. Sd/-

Sd/- PUBLISHER

Mr. Rohan Bali Mr. Aniket Das

S/o Ritik Bali (MD, Bloomsbury Publishing House)

R/o B- 33 Lodhi Colony,

Lodhi Road,

New Delhi 11003