Special provision regarding copyright in designs registered or capable of being registered under the Designs Act, 2000
Section 15 of the Copyright Act, 1957 deals with special provision regarding copyright in designs registered or capable of being registered under the Designs Act, 2000. Copyright shall not subsist under this Act in any design which is registered under the [Designs Act, 2000 (16 of 2000)]. The Act came into force on 21 Jan 1958.
15. Special provision regarding Copyright in designs registered or Capable of being registered under the 1*** 2[Designs Act, 2000 (16 of 2000)].--(1) Copyright shall not subsist under this Act in any design which is registered under the 1*** 2[Designs Act, 2000 (16 of 2000)].
(2) Copyright in any design, which is capable of being registered under the 1*** 2[Designs Act, 2000 (16 of 2000)] 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 licence, by any other person.
Section 15, The Copyright Act, 1957 (Act 14 of 1957).
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Vishvajeet Sharma & Anr. v. State & Anr.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Copyright Act s.15(2) ceases copyright in a design registered under the Designs Act once the design has been industrially applied to articles more than fifty times — where the complainant's real grievance is design get-up of a walker product already design-registered and mass-produced, criminal prosecution under s.63 Copyright Act cannot be sustained by dressing design piracy as copyright infringement (following Microfibres); Del HC quashed FIR/charge-sheet.
On this section: True
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Questions about Section 15
What have the courts held on Section 15 of the Copyright Act?
Vishvajeet Sharma & Anr. v. State & Anr. (11 Sep 2009) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: True.
How do I find court cases under Section 15 of the Copyright Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Copyright Act 15, section 15 Copyright Act, section 15 of the Copyright Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Vishvajeet Sharma & Anr. v. State & Anr. (11 Sep 2009).
When did Section 15 of the Copyright Act come into force?
Section 15 of the Copyright Act, cited as Copyright Act 15, came into force on 21 Jan 1958, having been enacted on 04 Jun 1957. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 15 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.