MICROSOFT CORPORATION Vs. S PUROHIT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The defendants are ex-parte. The plaintiffs have filed the present suit for permanent injunction restraining the infringement of copyrights, delivery up, rendition of accounts, damages, etc. against the defendants. The plaintiff No.1, is a company organized and existing under the laws of the State of Washinton, USA., plaintiff No.2, Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited is the wholly owned marketing subsidiary of the plaintiff No.1, located in New Delhi.

(2.) It is averred in the plaint that plaintiffs are engaged in the business of developing, manufacturing, licensing and support of a range of software products for various computing devices. The software products of the plaintiffs include operating systems for servers, personal computers, intelligent devices etc. As per the plaint, the software programs developed and marketed by the plaintiffs are computer program within the meaning of Section 2 (ffc) of the Copyright Act, 1957 and is included in the definition of a literary work as per Section 2 (o) of the said Act. The plaintiff's computer programs are "works" that were first published in the USA and are also registered in the USA. These programs have been created by the employees of the plaintiff No.1, for the plaintiff No.1. Under the US Copyright Law, US Code Title 17, Section 201(b), the copyright in a work created by an employee belongs to the employer under the 'Work made for Hire' doctrine. It is stated by the plaintiffs, that both the computer program, as well as the supplementary User Instructions and Manuals, are 'original literary works' as contemplated under Section 2 (o) and Section 13 (1) (a) of the Copyright Act, 1957. The plaintiff is the owner of the said copyright.

(3.) Further, it is averred in the plaint, that the rights of authors of member countries of the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions are protected under Indian copyright law and India and the USA are signatories to both the Universal Copyright Convention as well as the Berne Convention. Plaintiff's works are created by authors of member countries and originate from and are first published in the said member countries. Thus, in India, the works of plaintiff No.1 are protected in under Section 40 of the Copyright Act, 1957 read with the International Copyright Order, 1999. It is further stated in the plaint that the plaintiff No.1 is the owner of the copyright in the aforesaid literary works within the meaning of Section 17 of the Copyright Act, 1957 and therefore, is entitled to all exclusive rights flowing from such ownership as set out in Section 14 of the Copyright Act. The plaintiffs have been vigilant in protecting their copyrights and from time to time got several infringing parties prosecuted in India.