Section 52 – THE COPYRIGHT ACT, 1957

(1) The following acts shall not constitute an
infringement of copyright, namely,—
4
[(a) a fair dealing with any work, not being a computer programme, for the purposes of—
(i) private or personal use, including research;

1 Subs. by Act 38 of 1994, s. 16, for sub-clause (ii) (w.e.f. 10-5-1995).
2 The brackets and words “(except for the private and domestic use of the importer)” omitted by Act 65 of 1984, s. 3 (w.e.f. 8-10-1985).
3 Subs. by Act 38 of 1994, s. 16, for the proviso (w.e.f. 10-5-1995).
4 Subs. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 32(i), for clause (a) (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
(ii) criticism or review, whether of that work or of any other work;
(iii) the reporting of current events and current affairs, including the reporting of a lecture
delivered in public.
Explanation.— The storing of any work in any electronic medium for the purposes mentioned in
this clause, including the incidental storage of any computer programme which is not itself an
infringing copy for the said purposes, shall not constitute infringement of copyright.]
1
[(aa) the making of copies or adaptation of a computer programme by the lawful possessor of a copy
of such computer programme, fromsuch copy—
(i) in order to utilise the computer programme for the purpose for which it was supplied; or
(ii) to make back-up copies purely as a temporary protection against loss, destruction or
damage in order only to utilise the computer programme for the purpose for which it was
supplied;]
2
[(ab) the doing of any act necessary to obtain information essential for operating inter-operability of
an independently created computer programme with other programmes by a lawful possessor of a
computer programme provided that such information is not otherwise readily available;
(ac) the observation, study or test of functioning of the computer programme in order to
determine the ideas and principles which underline any elements of the programme while performing
such acts necessary for the functions for which the computer programme was supplied;
(ad) the making of copies or adaptation of the computer programme from a personally legally
obtained copy for non-commercial personal use;]
3
[(b) the transient or incidental storage of a work or performance purely in the technical process of
electronic transmission or communication to the public;
(c)transient or incidental storage of a work or performance for the purpose of providing electronic
links, access or integration, where such links, access or integration has not been expressly prohibited by
the right holder, unless the person responsible is aware or has reasonable grounds for believing that such
storage is of an infringing copy:
Provided that if the person responsible for the storage of the copy has received a written complaint
from the owner of copyright in the work, complaining that such transient or incidental storage is an
infringement, such person responsible for the storage shall refrain from facilitating such access for a

1
Ins. by Act 38 of 1994, s. 17 (w.e.f. 10-5-1995).
2
Ins. by Act 49 of 1999, s. 7 (w.e.f. 15-1-2000).
3 Subs. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 32(ii), for clauses (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j) (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
period of twenty-one days or till he receives an order from the competent court refraining from facilitation
access and in case no such order is received before the expiry of such period of twenty-one days, he
may continue to provide the facility of such access;
(d) the reproduction of any work for the purpose of a judicial proceeding or for the purpose of a
report of a judicial proceeding;
(e) the reproduction or publication of any work prepared by the Secretariat of a Legislature or,
where the legislature consists of two Houses, by the Secretariat of either House of the Legislature,
exclusively for the use of the members of that Legislature;
(f) the reproduction of any work in a certified copy made or supplied in accordance with any law for
the time being in force;
(g) the reading or recitation in public of reasonable extracts from a published literacy or dramatic
work;
(h) the publication in a collection, mainly composed of non-copyright matter, bona fide intended for
instructional use, and so described in the title and in any advertisement issued by or on behalf of the
publisher, of short passages from published literary or dramatic works, not themselves published for such
use in which copyright subsists:
Provided that not more than two such passages from works by the same author are published by the
same publisher during any period of five years.
Explanation.— In the case of a work of joint authorship, references in this clause to passages from works
shall include references to passages from works by any one or more of the authors of those passages or
by any one or more of those authors in collaboration with any other person;
(i) the reproduction of any work—
(i) by a teacher or a pupil in the course of instruction; or
(ii) as part of the question to be answered in an examination; or
(iii) in answers to such questions;
(j) the performance, in the course of the activities of an educational institution, of a literary, dramatic
or musical work by the staff and students of the institution, or of a cinematograph film or a sound recording
if the audience is limited to such staff and students, the parents and guadians of the students and persons
connected with the activities of the institution or the communication to such an audience of a
cinematograph film or sound recording;
(k) the causing of a recording to be heard in public by utilising it,—
(i) in an enclosed room or hall meant for the common use of residents in any residential
premises (not being a hotel or similar commercial establishment) as part of the amenities provided
exclusively or mainly for residents therein; or
(ii) as part of the activities of a club or similar organisation which is not established or
conducted for profit;]
(l) the performance of a literary, dramatic or musical work by an amateur club or society, if the
performance is given to a non-paying audience, or for the benefit of a religious institution;
(m) the reproduction in a newspaper, magazine or other periodical of an article on current economic,
political, social or religious topics, unless the author of such article has expressly reserved to himself the
right of such reproduction;
1
[(n) the storing of a work in any medium by e lectronic means by a non-commercial public
library, for preservation if the library already possesses a non-digital copy of the work;]
(o) the making of not more than three copies of a book (including a pamphlet, sheet of music, map,
chart or plan) by or under the direction of the person in charge of a
2
[non-commercial public library] for
the use of the library if such book is not available for sale in India;
(p) the reproduction, for the purpose of research or private study or with a view to publication, of an
unpublished literary, dramatic or musical work kept in a library, museum or other institution to which
the public has access:
Provided that where the identity of the author of any such work or, in the case of a work of joint
authorship, of any of the authors is known to the library, museum or other institution, as the case may be,
the provisions of this clause shall apply only if such reproduction is made at a time more than 3
[sixty
years] from the date of the death of the author or, in the case of a work of joint authorship, from the
death of the author whose identity is known or, if the identity of more authors than one is known from
the death of such of those authors who dies last;
(q) the reproduction or publication of—
(i) any matter which has been published in any Official Gazette except an Act of a
Legislature;
(ii) any Act of a Legislature subject to the condition that such Act is reproduced or
published together with any commentary thereon or any other original matter;
(iii) the report of any committee, commission, council, board or other like body appointed by
the Government if such report has been laid on the Table of the Legislature, unless the
reproduction or publication of such report is prohibited by the Government;

1 Subs. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 32(iii), for clause (n) (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
2 Subs. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 32(iv), for “public library” (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
3 Subs. by Act 49 of 1999, s. 7, for “fifty years” (w.e.f. 15-1-2000).
(iv) any judgment or order of a court, tribunal or other judicial authority, unless the
reproduction or publication of such judgment or order is prohibited by the court, the
tribunal or other judicial authority, as the case may be;
(r) the production or publication of a translation in any Indian language of an Act of a
Legislature and of any rules or orders made thereunder—
(v) if no translation of such Act or rules or orders in that language has been previously been
produced or published by the Government; or
(vi) where a translation of such Act or rules or orders in that language has been produced or
published by the Government, if the translation is not available for sale to the public:
Provided that such translation contains a statement at a prominent place to the effect
that the translation has not been authorised or accepted as authentic by the Government;
1
[(s) the making or publishing of a painting, drawing, engraving or photograph of a work of
architecture or the display of a work of architecture;]
(t) the making or publishing of a painting, drawing, engraving or photograph of a sculpture, or other
artistic work falling under sub-clause (iii) of clause (c) of section 2, if such work is permanently situate in a
public place or any premises to which the public has access;
(u) the inclusion in a cinematograph filmof—
(i) any artistic work permanently situate in a public place or any premises to which the public
has access; or
(ii) any other artistic work, if such inclusion is only by way of background or is otherwise
incidental to the principal matters represented in the film;
(v) the use by the author of an artistic work, where the author of such work is not the owner of the
copyright therein, of any mould, cast, sketch, plan, model or study made by him for the purpose of the
work:
Provided that he does not thereby repeat or imitate the main design of the work;
2
[(w) the making of a three-dimensional object from a two-dimensional artistic work, such as a
technical drawing, for the purposes of industrial application of any purely functional part of a useful
device;]
(x) the reconstruction of a building or structure in accordance with the architectural drawings or plans
by reference to which the building or structure was originally constructed:
Provided that the original construction was made with the consent or licence of the owner of the

1 Subs. by Act 38 of 1994, s. 17, for clause (s) (w.e.f. 9-8-1995).
2 Subs. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 32, for clause (w) (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
copyright in such drawings and plans;
(y) in relation to a literary, 1
[dramatic, artistic or] musical work recorded or reproduced in any
cinematograph film, the exhibition of such film after the expiration of the term of copyright therein:
Provided that the provisions of sub-clause (ii) of clause (a), sub-clause (i) of clause (b) and
clauses (d), (f), (g), (m) and (p) shall not apply as respects any act unless that act is accompanied by
an acknowledgment—
(i) identifying the work by its title or other description; and
(ii) unless the work is anonymous or the author of the work has previously agreed or required that
no acknowledgment of his name should be made, also identifying the author;
2
[(z) the making of an ephemeral recording, by a broadcasting organisation using its own facilities for its
own broadcast by a broadcasting organisation of a work which it has the right to broadcast; and the retention
of such recording for archival purposes on the ground of its exceptional documentary character;
(za) the performance of a literary, dramatic or musical work or the communication to the public of
such work or of a sound recording in the course of any bona fide religious ceremony or an official
ceremony held by the Central Government or the State Government or any local authority.
Explanation.— For the purpose of this clause, religious ceremony including a marriage procession and
other social festivities associated with a marriage;]
3
[(zb) the adaptation, reproduction, issue of copies or communication to the public of any work in any
accessibleformat,by—
(i) any person to facilitate persons with disability to access to works including sharing with
any person with disability of such accessible format for private or personal use,
educational purpose or research; or
(ii) any organisation working for the benefit of the persons with disabilities in case the normal
format prevents the enjoyment of such works by such persons:
Provided that the copies of the works in such accessible format are made available to the
persons with disabilities on a non-profit basis but to recover only the cost of production:
Provided further that the organisation shall ensure that the copies of works in such accessible
format are used only by persons with disabilities and takes reasonable steps to prevent its
entry into ordinary channels of business.

1 Subs. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 32, for “dramatic or” (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
2
Ins. by Act 38 of 1994, s. 17 (w.e.f. 9-8-1995).
3
Ins. by Act 27 of 2012, s. 32 (w.e.f. 21-6-2012).
Explanation.— For the purposes of this sub-clause, “any organisation” includes an organisation
registered under section 12A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) and working for the
benefit of persons with disability or recognised under Chapter X of the Persons with Disabilities
(Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and full Participation) Act, 1995 (1 of 1996) or
receiving grants from the Government for facilitating access to persons with disabilities or an
educational institution or library or archives recognised by the Government;
1
[(zc) the importation of copies of any literary or artistic work, such as labels, company logos or
promotional or explanatory material, that is purely incidental to other goods or products being imported
lawfully.]
(2) The provisions of sub-section (1) shall apply to the doing of any act in relation to the translation of a
literary, dramatic or musical work or the adaptation of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work as they
apply in relation to the work itself.