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T H I R T E E N
P
icture this nightmare. You’re new to the cyber
world and want to establish a presence on the superhighway. Like thousands of other
slightly ‘green-behind-the gills users,” you turn to a “Friend” to create your magnum
opus for the Web, your very own site, your company’s window to the outside world.
Or even worse, you’re a Hrithik Roshan fan and want to create a site dedicated to the
Bollywood supremo. You call on this close friend, a well-known name in the world of
Web content and Web design, to fire the crucial cyber salvo to Hrithik’s devotees. It
happens. Your site is up and running and you declare it’s the best, most imaginative,
most innovative entity you’ve laid eyes upon.
But wait, another two weeks later, another site comes up, looking quite similar. In
fact the two sites could be kissing cousins. Not only is the content twin-like, the
software supporting the site also has elements identical to the features offered by the
package that powers your site. To make matters worse, the “new” site belongs to one
of your key competitors.
What do you do? Do you blow a fuse? Do you threaten your friend with
dire consequences, or then do you pull out the Copyright Act and start hunting for
legal help that will fix the blame fairly and squarely. Well, to be honest,
the Copyright Act might find you on the wrong side of the fence, and your “friend” on
safer, warmer and secure turf. He could be in the clear for instance, if you didn’t describe
in detail your expectations. Your friend’s employment status is what will either put him
in the dock or leave him a free man. Did you hire him as an employee or as an
independent contractor? That possibly could be the key question.
The bad news for you considering the circumstances is that the copyright for Website
development work undertaken by an employee belongs to the employer. However, if
the man behind your Website is not an employee and there is no written agreement
stating otherwise, he is the master of his Website wizardry, and owns the copyright.
The Times of India-Bombay Times September 20, 2000
Copyright or “Right To Copy” on the Net
