In a significant step in creating healthy precedents in the Intellectual Property Rights regime in India, the Delhi high court has awarded first-of-its-kind damages for Rs 19.75 lakh in a civil copyright infringement case.
The high court indicted the defendants, Yogesh Popat and M/s Dyptronics of Mumbai, for indulging in hard disk drive loading of pirated or unlicensed software onto computers assembled and sold to customers. The evidence presented included pirated versions of Windows 98, Office 2000 and Visual Studio 6.0 illegally distributed by the defendants without any authorization.
Commenting on the landmark judgment, Kiran Karnik, president, Nasscom, said, "It is indeed very encouraging that the Indian judiciary has taken notice and initiated appropriate action against the errant dealer engaging in software piracy. Moreover, this decision should lead to more deterrence to the software piracy business as it is becoming clear that awarding damages against the infringers of intellectual property rights is a positive step in creating an IPR-friendly environment in India."
"We are working effectively on an ongoing basis to train the police and the judiciary in enforcing IPR laws, apart from conducting numerous anti-piracy raids and other campaigns across the country," he added.
A large number of computer dealers in India indulge in encouraging customers to use pirated software instead of motivating them to purchase genuine software for various beneficial reasons. The copies of the software loaded on the computer are illegal copies, amounting to infringement of the copyrights in the software. In hard disk loading, unlike genuine software, no installation support CDs, manuals, Certificate of Authenticity or License Agreements is provided.
Source: Channeltimes
The high court indicted the defendants, Yogesh Popat and M/s Dyptronics of Mumbai, for indulging in hard disk drive loading of pirated or unlicensed software onto computers assembled and sold to customers. The evidence presented included pirated versions of Windows 98, Office 2000 and Visual Studio 6.0 illegally distributed by the defendants without any authorization.
Commenting on the landmark judgment, Kiran Karnik, president, Nasscom, said, "It is indeed very encouraging that the Indian judiciary has taken notice and initiated appropriate action against the errant dealer engaging in software piracy. Moreover, this decision should lead to more deterrence to the software piracy business as it is becoming clear that awarding damages against the infringers of intellectual property rights is a positive step in creating an IPR-friendly environment in India."
"We are working effectively on an ongoing basis to train the police and the judiciary in enforcing IPR laws, apart from conducting numerous anti-piracy raids and other campaigns across the country," he added.
A large number of computer dealers in India indulge in encouraging customers to use pirated software instead of motivating them to purchase genuine software for various beneficial reasons. The copies of the software loaded on the computer are illegal copies, amounting to infringement of the copyrights in the software. In hard disk loading, unlike genuine software, no installation support CDs, manuals, Certificate of Authenticity or License Agreements is provided.
Source: Channeltimes
