Two Steps to Begin With the
Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
An individual who has created an original and unique work may be perturbed to find out that someone else appears to have it imitated, performed, or dispersed without his/her prior approval or permission. But first, it is necessary to register your unique work. The process of copyright registration can be done via online mode with the help of required documents. Equally important is to register your trademark in India. The trademark registration process can also be initiated via online mode with as many compliance providers can help you with trademark registration online in India. Once you are done with both of these registrations, you will have the sole right to use them, and if you find someone (third-party) using it without your prior approval, then legal action can be initiated against them for the contravention of your right.
In this situation, you can initiate a copyright infringement action against them for contravention of your sole and legal right in case where you have registered your copyright with concerning authority. In the case where you do not have registered your unique work, technically, you still possess copyright, but you will not be able to file a lawsuit in any court to enforce your right.
For that, you will have to ensure that you actually have the copyright in the work that you have created in the first place, as many individuals create unique work as part of their job rather than creating it separately. And such types of works can be known as works made for hire, which means that the employer possesses the copyright in work until and unless the employer and employee are in the same line and with an agreement to a different arrangement.
Taking consideration of alternatives to litigation and lawsuit
Initiating a lawsuit against the right violator can be extremely time-consuming and costly, especially since most of the copyright contravention cases need legal assistance from an attorney. You should be a zone where you would be able to justify the time and efforts for your losses from contravention that you have invested in the lawsuit. Even if your losses are exceptional, you might want to try to resolve the issue amicably outside of the court’s premises. Because sometimes, it makes sense to follow the alternative route to litigation and lawsuit before you recruit an attorney since negotiating on your own front would be more useful. If you are aware of the infringer, then you might want to reach a favorable agreement for both of you. Such type of cases can be resolved with the help of informal meetings as well.
Suppose you are not aware of the infringer. In that case, you might want to send them a formal demand letter to clarify your prerogatives and convene a meeting to resolve the issue via discussion. If a company is responsible for contravention of your right, then you can send the demand letter to the CEO of that particular company.
If you have completed the online copyright registration then you can sue the parties who have infringed your copyright/ this tends to resolve the issue outside of the court premises as they want to avoid the negative public backlash aligned with the contravention. If your arguments are convincing and legally furnish able, then the infringer would pay you the wholesome amount for your damage to avoid any lawsuit. Often, mediation between the contested parties helps when one of them is not comfortable negotiating directly. A mediator is a neutral third-party who would listen to all the aspects of the issue from both sides and then deliver the non-partial decision.
Getting initiation on your case
If the mediations and negotiations do not bring favourable results, the copyright owner would have to recruit an attorney to assist them in the submission of a lawsuit. Here, you must look for an attorney who is an expert in the area of IP (intellectual property) law and who has won other such cases related to copyright infringement. You can even ask them for references from the proceeding clients whom they have represented.
Your attorney would initiate a lawsuit by submitting a complaint in the concerning court and serving it on the violator. They would then present their account via responding to a complaint, and then the case would proceed by collecting shreds of evidence to prove the claims while prepping for the trial.