Section 2 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
This second article on section 2 covers the clauses that describe how a work is used: adapted, communicated to the public, broadcast, performed, copied, rented or reproduced by a plate. Part 1 deals with author, work and the kinds of works; part 3 with society, licence and Government work.
Communication to the public means making a work or performance available to be seen, heard or enjoyed by the public otherwise than by issuing physical copies, whether or not anyone actually does. An adaptation is a defined conversion or rearrangement of a work. An infringing copy is a reproduction made or imported in contravention of the Act. Commercial rental is defined by what it does not include: non-profit lending by non-profit libraries and educational institutions.
The clause letters covered here
| Clause | Term defined |
|---|---|
| (a) | adaptation |
| (dd) | broadcast |
| (fa) as printed in the 2012 text | commercial rental |
| (ff) | communication to the public |
| (hh) | duplicating equipment |
| (m) | infringing copy |
| (q) | performance (in relation to performer's right) |
| (qq) | performer |
| (t) | plate |
| (x) | reprography |
| (xxa) | visual recording |
A note on lettering: the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 re-letters the printed clause (fa), "commercial rental", as clause (faa), and inserts a new clause (fa) defining "Commercial Court". Before the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 the commercial rental definition was lettered (fa). The wording of the definition is unchanged by that Act. The new clause (fa) is dealt with in part 3.
Adaptation: clause (a)
Clause (a) lists five forms:
| Sub-clause | Kind of work | What counts as an adaptation |
|---|---|---|
| (i) | Dramatic work | conversion into a non-dramatic work |
| (ii) | Literary or artistic work | conversion into a dramatic work by way of performance in public or otherwise |
| (iii) | Literary or dramatic work | any abridgement, or any version in which the story or action is conveyed wholly or mainly by pictures, in a form suitable for reproduction in a book, newspaper, magazine or similar periodical |
| (iv) | Musical work | any arrangement or transcription |
| (v) | Any work | any use of such work involving its rearrangement or alteration |
Sub-clause (v) was inserted in 1994, as the footnote records. It is the widest of the five, because it applies to "any work". The right to make an adaptation is one of the exclusive rights in section 14. Where that right is not held, making an adaptation can infringe.
Communication to the public: clause (ff)
This is the clause most often relied on for online and broadcast uses. It was substituted in 2012 (footnote). It reads, in substance:
- "making any work or performance available for being seen or heard or otherwise enjoyed by the public directly or by any means of display or diffusion";
- "other than by issuing physical copies of it";
- "whether simultaneously or at places and times chosen individually"; and
- "regardless of whether any member of the public actually sees, hears or otherwise enjoys the work or performance so made available".
The Explanation says communication "through satellite or cable or any other means of simultaneous communication to more than one household or place of residence including residential rooms of any hotel or hostel" is deemed to be communication to the public.
Three points follow from the printed words. First, the clause covers making available; it does not require that anyone actually watch or listen. Second, it covers both works and performances. Third, issuing physical copies is outside it; that is a separate act ("issue of copies") in the Act. This definition is the starting point for streaming and online display, so creators who put work online often begin with copyright registration to have their ownership on record. "Publication" under section 3 itself includes communicating the work to the public.
Broadcast and performers
Broadcast, clause (dd). Inserted in 1983 (footnote). "Broadcast" means communication to the public "(i) by any means of wireless diffusion, whether in any one or more of the forms of signs, sounds or visual images; or (ii) by wire, and includes a re-broadcast".
Performance, clause (q). "In relation to performer's right", it means "any visual or acoustic presentation made live by one or more performers".
Performer, clause (qq). "Includes an actor, singer, musician, dancer, acrobat, juggler, conjurer, snake charmer, a person delivering a lecture or any other person who makes a performance." A proviso, added in 2012 (footnote), says that in a cinematograph film a person whose performance is "casual or incidental in nature" and who, "in the normal course of the practice of the industry, is not acknowledged anywhere including in the credits of the film" is not treated as a performer, except for the purpose of clause (b) of section 38B. Section 38B is the performer's moral right provision; a performer's right is dealt with in a later article of this series.
Infringing copy: clause (m)
The clause was substituted in 1994. An infringing copy is:
| Sub-clause | In relation to | The infringing copy is |
|---|---|---|
| (i) | Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work | a reproduction otherwise than in the form of a cinematographic film |
| (ii) | Cinematographic film | a copy of the film made on any medium by any means |
| (iii) | Sound recording | any other recording embodying the same sound recording, made by any means |
| (iv) | A programme or performance in which a broadcast reproduction right or a performer's right subsists | the sound recording or cinematographic film of the programme or performance |
All four are qualified by the closing words: "if such reproduction, copy or sound recording is made or imported in contravention of the provisions of this Act". So a copy is "infringing" only if its making or importation breaks the Act.
Drafting slip: sub-clause (iv) says "in which such a broadcast reproduction right", but no earlier "such" right is mentioned in the clause; read it as "a broadcast reproduction right or a performer's right".
The term appears in the civil and criminal remedies and in the importation provisions, which later articles take up. See the live post on what constitutes infringement under section 51.
Equipment and copying: clauses (hh), (t) and (x)
- Duplicating equipment, clause (hh) (inserted 1984): "any mechanical contrivance or device used or intended to be used for making copies of any work".
- Plate, clause (t): "includes any stereotype or other plate, stone, block, mould, matrix, transfer, negative, duplicating equipment or other device used or intended to be used for printing or reproducing copies of any work, and any matrix or other appliance by which sound recording for the acoustic presentation of the work are or are intended to be made". The words "duplicating equipment" were inserted in the clause in 1984 and "sound recording" substituted for "record" in 1994, per the footnotes.
- Reprography, clause (x): "the making of copies of a work, by photocopying or similar means".
"Plate" matters in the offences chapter, where possession of plates for infringing copies is dealt with.
Commercial rental and visual recording
Commercial rental, printed as clause (fa), now (faa). The definition does not say what commercial rental is; it says what it is not: "the rental, lease or lending of a lawfully acquired copy of a computer programme, sound recording, visual recording or cinematograph film for non-profit purposes by a non-profit library or non-profit educational institution". The Explanation defines such a body as "a library or educational institution which receives grants from the Government or exempted from payment of tax under the Income-tax Act, 1961". Inserted in 2012 (footnote).
Visual recording, clause (xxa): "the recording in any medium, by any method including the storing of it by any electronic means, of moving images or of the representations thereof, from which they can be perceived, reproduced or communicated by any method." Also inserted in 2012.
Need help with a rights or licensing question?
Whether your use is an adaptation, a communication to the public or a plain copy decides which permission you need. If you are preparing a licence or checking a planned use, our copyright registration team can review the work and its registration status before you proceed.
Key takeaways
- Communication to the public covers making a work or performance available, whether or not anyone actually watches or listens.
- Satellite or cable transmission to more than one household, including hotel rooms, is deemed communication to the public.
- An adaptation can be a conversion, abridgement, arrangement or any rearrangement or alteration.
- An infringing copy is a reproduction made or imported in contravention of the Act.
- A casual, unacknowledged film performance is not treated as a performance by a "performer", except for section 38B(b).
- The 2021 Act re-letters commercial rental as (faa); before the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 it was (fa).
Read next
- Section 2 (Part 1): author, work and kinds of works
- Section 2 (Part 3): copyright society, exclusive licence, Government work and others
- Performing rights and broadcasting rights under copyright
Disclaimer: Based on the Copyright Act, 1957 as amended up to 2012, read with the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 and the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Acts of 2023 and 2026, as consulted on 1 October 2026. Forms, fees and procedure are set by the Copyright Rules, 2013 as amended from time to time. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.