{"id":85228,"date":"2026-09-21T18:09:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T12:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=85228"},"modified":"2026-09-21T18:09:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T12:39:41","slug":"india-eu-fta-intellectual-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/21-09-2026\/india-eu-fta-intellectual-property","title":{"rendered":"India\u2013EU FTA: Issue of Intellectual Property &#038; Copyright"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/International Relations; Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The European Commission has sought EU member states\u2019 approval for signing and concluding the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/28-01-2026\/india-eu-fta-concluded\"><strong>India\u2013EU Free Trade Agreement,<\/strong><\/a> bringing <strong>Intellectual Property and Copyright<\/strong> implications into focus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About India\u2013EU FTA &amp; Intellectual Property<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The India\u2013EU FTA seeks to deepen trade and economic ties between India and the European Union.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Its Intellectual Property (IP) chapter covers areas such as <strong>copyright, enforcement,<\/strong> <strong>technological protection measures (TPMs)<\/strong> and <strong>rights-management information<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>draft India-EU FTA<\/strong> text raises concerns about whether existing Indian copyright exceptions and digital-policy flexibilities would remain protected.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Intellectual Property (IP) &amp; Copyright<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>IP:<\/strong> Legal rights protecting creations of the mind, including inventions, literary\/artistic works, software, designs, trademarks and geographical indications.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Copyright:<\/strong> A branch of IP protecting original literary, artistic and creative works, including <strong>books, music, films, software and digital content<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In <strong>India<\/strong>, both are primarily governed by the <strong>Copyright Act, 1957<\/strong>, which incorporates India\u2019s obligations under international IP frameworks such as <strong>TRIPS<\/strong> and the <strong>WIPO Copyright Treaty<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Copyright Rules: EU and India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>WIPO Copyright Treaty <\/strong>specifically designed for the digital environment, protects authors\u2019 rights while recognising limitations and exceptions, including those relevant to education and research.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India\u2019s <strong>Section 52<\/strong> provides important copyright exceptions, including <em>fair dealing<\/em> and certain transient or incidental digital reproductions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Section 65A<\/strong> regulates TPMs while providing exceptions under Section 65A(2) for specified lawful purposes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sections <strong>52(1)(ab) and 52(1)(ac)<\/strong> permit software observation, testing and reverse engineering in specified circumstances, including interoperability and security research.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sections <strong>52(1)(b) and (c)<\/strong> protect certain temporary and transient copies created during electronic transmission and data routing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>Copyright Rules, 2013<\/strong>, including <strong>Rule 75<\/strong>, provide the framework for notice-and-takedown procedures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Structural Asymmetry in Copyright Rules: <\/strong>The draft IP chapter reportedly excludes the <strong>WIPO Copyright Treaty from the National Treatment clause<\/strong>, despite affirming commitments to international IP treaties.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>At the same time, provisions relating to <strong>TPMs<\/strong> and <strong>Rights Management Information<\/strong> remain binding. It also grants protection to temporary and permanent reproductions, raising concerns regarding transient digital copies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It could expose <strong>India\u2019s existing digital copyright exceptions<\/strong> under <strong>Section 52<\/strong> to challenges by foreign rightsholders.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technological Protection Measures (TPMs): <\/strong>A stringent anti-circumvention regime could affect students, researchers, libraries and archives.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A student legally examining software for interoperability or security research may encounter DRM or encryption that requires circumvention.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Similarly, libraries and archives increasingly rely on <strong>format-shifting<\/strong> to preserve digitally locked, out-of-print or fragile works. If statutory exceptions are weakened, preservation and academic research could face legal uncertainty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Threat to Internet Intermediaries: <\/strong>Temporary copies generated in <strong>RAM, server caches and routine network routing<\/strong> are important to the functioning of the internet.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>India\u2019s Copyright Act<\/strong> provides protection for specified transient copies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, the draft\u2019s broad reproduction right could expose ISPs and digital intermediaries to greater copyright liability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India should seek <strong>targeted recalibration<\/strong> of the IP chapter before finalisation.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>WIPO Copyright Treaty should be reinserted into the National Treatment clause<\/strong>, while existing Indian statutory exceptions for education, research, preservation, interoperability and transient digital copies should remain protected.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The objective should be to deepen India\u2013EU trade ties without diluting India\u2019s <strong>digital-policy autonomy, access to knowledge and innovation ecosystem<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/the-copyright-stakes-in-the-eu-fta\/article71487735.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source: TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The European Commission has sought EU member states\u2019 approval for signing and concluding the India\u2013EU Free Trade Agreement, bringing Intellectual Property and Copyright implications into focus. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> About India\u2013EU FTA &#038; Intellectual Property <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The India\u2013EU FTA seeks to deepen trade and economic ties between India and the European Union.\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Its Intellectual Property (IP) chapter covers areas such as copyright, enforcement, technological protection measures (TPMs) and rights-management information. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/21-09-2026\/india-eu-fta-intellectual-property\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85228"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85230,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85228\/revisions\/85230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}