Copyright comprises a bundle of rights. In India, what these rights are is defined by the Copyright Act, 1957.

According to Section 14 of the Copyright Act, ‘copyright’ means the exclusive right, by virtue of and subject to the provisions of the Act to do or to authorise the doing of certain acts.

Under Section 14 (a), in the case of a literary, dramatic or musical work not being a computer programme, copyright is the right to do and to authorize the doing of any of the following acts:
1. to reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means;
2. to issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation
3. to perform the work in public, or communicate it to the public
4. to make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work
5. to make any translation of the work
6. to make any adaptation of the work
7. to do, in relation to a translation or an adaptation of the work, any of the acts permitted in relation to the work itself

Under Section 2 (p), a ‘musical work’ means any combination of melody and harmony or either of them, printed, reduced to writing or otherwise graphically produced or reproduced.
Under Section 2 (h), a ‘dramatic work’ includes any piece for recitation, choreographic work or entertainment in dumb show, the scenic arrangement or acting form of which is fixed in writing or other wise but does not include a cinematograph film.
Under Section 2 (o), a ‘literary work’ includes tables and compilations.

Under Section 14 (b) in the case of a computer programme, to do or authorise the doing of any of the following acts:
1. to reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means;
2. to issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation
3. to perform the work in public, or communicate it to the public
4. to make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work
5. to make any translation of the work
6. to make any adaptation of the work
7. to do, in relation to a translation or an adaptation of the work, any of the acts permitted in relation to the work itself
8. to sell or give on commercial rental or offer for sale or for commercial rental any copy of the computer programme provided that such commercial rental does not apply in respect of computer programmes where the programme itself is not the essential object of the rental.

Under Section 14 (c), in the case of an artistic work, to do or authorise the doing of any of the following acts:
1. to reproduce the work in any material form including depiction in three dimensions of a two dimensional work or in two dimensions of a three dimensional work;
2. to communicate the work to the public;
3. to issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation;
4. to include the work in any cinematograph film;
5. to make any adaptation of the work;
6. to do, in relation to an adaptation of the work, any of the acts permitted in relation to the work itself

Under Section 2 (c), an ‘artistic work’ means: a painting, a sculpture, a drawing (including a diagram, map, chart or plan), an engraving or a photograph, whether or not any such work possesses artistic quality; an architectural work of art; and any other work of artistic craftsmanship.

Under Section 14 (d), in the case of a cinematograph film, to do or authorise the doing of any of the following acts:
1. to make a copy of the film, including a photograph of any image forming part thereof;
2. to sell or give on hire, or offer for sale or hire, any copy of the film, regardless of whether such copy has been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions;
3. to communicate the film to the public;

Under Section 2 (f), a ‘cinematograph film’ includes the sound track, if any, and ‘cinematograph’ shall be construed as including any work produced by any mechanical instrument or by radio-diffusion.

Under Section 14 (e), in the case of a record, to do or authorise the doing of any of the following acts by utilising the record:
1. to make any other sound record embodying it;
2. to sell or give on hire, or offer for sale or hire, any copy of the film, regardless of whether such copy has been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions
3. to communicate the recording embodied in the record by radio-diffusion.

In the case of any of these works, any reference to the doing of any act in relation to a work or a translation or an adaptation thereof shall include a reference to the doing of that act in relation to a substantial part thereof.

A copy which has been sold once shall be deemed to be a copy already in circulation.

Copyright does not subsist under the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 in any design which is registered under the Designs Act, 2000. Copyright in any design, which is capable of being registered under the Designs Act, but which has not been so registered, shall cease as soon as any article to which the design has been applied has been reproduced more than fifty times by an industrial process by the owner of the copyright or, with his license, by any other person.

No person shall be entitled to copyright or any similar right in any work, whether published or unpublished, otherwise than under and in accordance with the provisions of this Act or any other law for the time being in force. However, this restriction does not abrogate any right or jurisdiction to restrain a breach of trust or confidence.