E commerce has transformed the retail landscape including all Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer (B2C), Consumer to Business (C2B), and Consumer to Consumer (C2C) in India. Platforms empower sellers to reach and connect with millions of customers using their creative content, product images, videos, descriptions, and brand logos as their digital storefront. These materials are often protected under The Copyright Act, 1957 of India. This Act grants creator’s exclusive rights over their original works. However, the growth in rapid digitalization also increases the risks of copyright infringement making legal compliance increasingly critical.
Under Indian law, copyright protects the artistic expression photographs, videos, description of products uploaded to e-commerce listings. Even seemingly simple product photos are recognized as artistic works under Section 2(c) of The Copyright Act, 1957.
When a seller replicates such images or text without authorization, they trigger infringement under Section 51 of the Copyright Act. The parties involved in copyright E-commerce disputes are typically the right holder, the infringing seller, and sometimes the e-commerce platform. The rights holder, whether an individual creator or a company, has the authority to enforce their copyright. The infringer is always directly liable for unauthorized use, while platforms may bear responsibility if they fail to act upon notification of infringement, Nonetheless, platforms also play a vital role under Section 79 if the Information Technology Act, 2000, they receive safe harbor protection provided they exercise due diligence and act on the takedown notices. However, recent judgements such as Christian Louboutin versus Nakul Bajaj, 2018 & EBC and Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal case, 2024 has held that platforms lose this shield if they play an active role in transactions or facilitate unauthorized use.
Similarly, in Amyway India Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. versus 1MG Technologies Pvt. Ltd. & Ors., 2019, the court restrained online platforms from selling Amyway products without authorization, nothing that such unauthorized sales violated copyright and contractual rights.
Remedies and Responsibilities:
Copyright Infringement in E-commerce can take multiple forms. Sellers upload images and videos of products taken from other listings without permission, authorization, reproduce competitor product descriptions, sell digital goods such as software or e-books without proper licensing, OR use logos and designs which belongs to other brands.
These actions intentionally or accidentally constitute infringement under the Copyright Act, 1957.
This Act outlines both civil and criminal remedies for such violations. Civil remedies include injunctions to stop the further use of copyrighted material, provide damages to compensate the losses incurred and the accounting profits earned by the infringer.
Whereas, criminal penalties under sections 63 and 63A include imprisonment of upto 3 years and fines upto Rs. 2,00,000 particularly in cases of willful infringement for commercial gain.
E-commerce platforms have a imperative responsibility to protect IPRs and prevent the same of the infringing goods. Key measures shall be performed which includes implementing IP protection mechanisms such as brand registries and take down policies, verify the identity and background of sellers, and maintaining transparency with regard to the origin of products. Platforms must promptly remove infringing listings when noticed or detected, shall actively monitor their marketplaces using AI technology or manual moderation. Harmony and Co-operation with law and law enforcement agencies and rights holder further strengthens enforcement efforts. IPR infringement on E-commerce platforms possess significant risks towards creators, innovators and brand owners. While digital marketplaces have democratized commerce, they also require robust regulatory oversight and proactive self-regulation to safeguard IP.
Comparison with USA & EU:
India has a combined framework of the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Information Technology Act, 2000 which reflects the balanced approach towards the protection of creators also ensuring that e commerce platform are not unnecessarily burdened. In comparison with Indian law copyright system United States of America applied Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 1998. This provides the protections of safe harbor to the platforms who take initiatives to remove the infringing content as soon as detected. Whereas, Indian courts have more stricter scrutinizing factors to observe the platform’s conduct especially when they are negligent in addressing complaints.
In Addition, The European Union imposes majorly responsibility and mandate on platforms with respect to the monitoring facilities of the content before making it public on the platform to prevent infringement. Whereas, in India proactive monitoring from the side of E-commerce is not a mandate but a reasonable due diligence is enough.
Conclusion:
India being a evolving digital economy is reflecting the growth of Infringement threats in e-commerce. We have laws but laws don’t fully address the infringement issues and complexities. What we urgently need is the robust Judicial precedents elaborating the distinction between what can and needs to be protected and what is not in our control to be protected and can be neglected to have a better clarity for businesses and creators. Copyright Infringement cases are multiplying day by day leaving them unresolved. Hence, strong guidelines need to be established for the enforcement. Simultaneously, implementation brings sustained improvement and should be complement to the legal provisions. Similarly, to EU our country India should also create proactive monitoring obligations for platforms as this will save all the parties in or affected by the dispute.
REFERENCES
1. The Copyright Act, 1957
2. The Information Technology Act, 2000
3. Christian Louboutin versus Nakul Bajaj, CS (Comm) 344/2018, I.As 19214/2014, 20912/2014, 23749/2014 & 9105/2015.
4. EBC Publishing Pvt. Ltd. v. Parents Responsibility, 2024 SCC OnLine Del 5675, decided on: 24-05-2024]
5. [EBC Publishing Pvt. Ltd. v. Wave Choice Cover, 2024 SCC OnLine Del 5677, decided on: 24-05-2024]
6. [EBC Publishing Pvt. Ltd. v. Book House, 2024 SCC OnLine Del 5676, decided on: 24-05-2024…https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2024/08/30/delhi-high-court-restrains-book-houses-from-manufacturing-and-selling-ebc-counterfeit-products/
7. Amyway India Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. versus 1MG Technologies Pvt. Ltd. & Ors., 2019, Judgment dated July 8, 2019 in CS(OS) 410/2018 and connected matters.
