Provisions as to works of certain international organisations
Section 41 of the Copyright Act, 1957 deals with provisions as to works of certain international organisations. Where-- (a) any work is made or first published by or under the direction or control of any organisation to which this section applies, and (b) there would, apart from this section, be no copyright in the work in India at the time of the making or, as the case may be, of the first publication thereo The Act came into force on 21 Jan 1958.
(1) Where--
(a) any work is made or first published by or under the direction or control of any organisation to which this section applies, and
(b) there would, apart from this section, be no copyright in the work in India at the time of the making or, as the case may be, of the first publication thereof, and
(c) either--
(i) the work is published as aforesaid in pursuance of an agreement in that behalf with the author, being an agreement which does not reserve to the author the copyright, if any, in the work, or
(ii) under section 17 any copyright in the work would belong to the organisation; there shall, by virtue of this section, be copyright in the work throughout India.
(2) Any organisation to which this section applies which at the material time had not the legal capacity of a body corporate shall have and be deemed at all material times to have had the legal capacity of a body corporate for the purpose of holding, dealing with, and enforcing copyright and in connection with all legal proceedings relating to copyright.
(3) The organisations to which this section applies are such organisations as the Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, declare to be organisations of which one or more sovereign powers or the Government or Governments thereof are members to which it is expedient that this section shall apply.
Section 41, The Copyright Act, 1957 (Act 14 of 1957).
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
Questions about Section 41
What does Section 41 of the Copyright Act deal with?
Section 41 of the Copyright Act is headed "Provisions as to works of certain international organisations". Where-- (a) any work is made or first published by or under the direction or control of any organisation to which this section applies, and (b) there would, apart from this section, be no copyright in the work in India at the time of the making or, as the case may be, of the first publication thereo
How do I find court cases under Section 41 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 41, section 41 Copyright Act, section 41 of the Copyright Act. People searching for it also type copyright act s 41 and section 40 and 41 of copyright act 1957. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome.
What should I read with Section 41 of the Copyright Act, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 17 (First owner of copyright), so none of them can safely be read on its own. 3 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it.
When did Section 41 of the Copyright Act come into force?
Section 41 of the Copyright Act, cited as Copyright Act 41, 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 18 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.