SEARCH ENGINES AND CIOPYRIGHT ISSUES

Fixing the liability
By
ANOOP KUMAR & AKHILESH KUMAR

4th year, B.A. LL.B.(Hon.), DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY.
“For years, we sat back whilst our music was wantonly stolen. We tried to educate people to raise awareness and then, only as a last resort, did we commence proceedings and even then only against the worst offenders” .                                        

ABSTRACT
The Intellectual Property Laws (I.P. Laws) have, to a great extent, proved to be successful in nipping the copyright infringement in its bud. The I.P. Laws provide umbrella jurisprudence, which seek to protect the creativity of the authors. But despite that, it has been widely observed that the I.P. Laws have failed to cover other aspects of the intellectual property. For example, the liability of the search engines for the copyright infringement has remained out of the ambit of the I.P. Laws. The paper is focused on drawback of the Information Technology laws in various nations. Further, it also suggests some reform in these pieces of legislation. Keywords. Copyright infringement, search engines, liability, cyber laws, safe harbour.

INTRODUCTION.

The constitution of a developed nation bestows upon its citizens the freedom of speech and expression. But this does not necessarily mean that the people of that nation are free to have an unauthorized access to the intellectual property of the authors. It is in the benefit of that particular individual, who applies its hard work and sweat to earn some bread for them, as well as that of the whole nation.  With the development of the jurisprudence that strike at the root of unauthorized use of the creative works of the author, it became possible to keep a check on those who violate the copyright of the author. The Intellectual Property Laws (I.P. Laws) have, to a great extent, proved to be successful in nipping the copyright infringement in its bud. The I.P. Laws provide umbrella jurisprudence, which seek to protect the creativity of the authors.

But despite that, it has been widely observed that the I.P. Laws have failed to cover other aspects of the intellectual property. For example, the liability of the search engines for the copyright infringement has remained out of the ambit of the I.P. Laws.

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