Issues and Challenges Concerning Copyright Law in Relation to the Outer Space

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 MSc in Intellectual Property Rights, The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), India

2 Professor of law, The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), India

Abstract

The 21st century is commonly referred to as the century of technological upgradation and digitalisation. A large section of the developmental activities that are taking place in our daily lives are due to the invention and exploration based activities that are being conducted by  researchers, scientists and scholars from different nations. One of the most significant activities that have helped in shaping the country's future is the ability to forecast weather conditions, disaster situations, natural calamities and atmospheric health of a country and also of the world at large. This becomes possible because of the imagery and the information which are generated with the help of the satellites. Furthermore different categories of satellite also help in broadcasting such information and sending information to the masses through various modes of communication including the television and the wireless network mediums. The term invention is heavily dependent and interconnected with a particular discipline of law- the intellectual property right. The information which is generated by the satellites is considered as important creations. The main question that arises in this sector is whether such information is subject to protection under any scheme and specifically copyright regime of the intellectual property right domain. This paper focuses on the intersection between the copyright regime and the creations in relation to the outer space and what are the possible areas which are required to be focused on in order to establish a sound system of protection for such creations.

Keywords


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