- Court
- Delhi High Court
- Date of judgment
- Judge
- Anish Dayal
- Outcome
- Suit decreed
Headnote
Summary judgment under Order XIII-A CPC and the suit decreed. The question was whether a sanyasi can own copyright in literary works of his creation, the defendant contending that a renunciate relinquishes all rights in property on entering a religious order. The Court held that copyright vests in a person by virtue of his labour and skill and subsists under section 17, and once vested can be extinguished only by a mode known to law. Civil death on entering a religious order does not prevent subsequent acquisition and holding of private property, as Shri Krishna Singh v. Mathura Ahir records, and the law of copyright protects a man's rights irrespective of his status as a family man or a saint. In any event there was a categorical written assignment by the author to the plaintiff Trust, registered with the Charity Commissioner.
Headnote by BRB Legal, written from the judgment: a summary for reference, not legal advice. Read the judgment itself before relying on it.