CR in X-ray works- More of fireworks than opinions

Dear Friends.

I could count upto 21 replies to my query..but most of which ended up in exhibiting oneupmanship...

Anyways I have some further input to the issue..

The Copyright Act, 1957 of India states :  

CATEGORY :
As per Section 2 (c) of Copyright Act, 1957, which defines ‘artistic work’ , photographs are treated as artistic works entitled to protection irrespective of its artistic quality.

DEFINITION
As per Section 2 (s), “photograph” includes photo-lithograph and any work produced by any process analogous to photography but does not include any part of a cinematograph film.

( So this implies that x-ray's are protected at par with photographs )

AUTHOR
As per Section 2 (d) (iv) , “author” means , in relation to a photograph, the person taking the photograph.

OWNERSHIP
As per Section 17, proviso (b),
Subject to provisions of clause (a), in the case of a photograph taken, or a painting or portrait drawn, or an engraving or a cinematograph film made, for valuable consideration at the instance of any person, such person shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein.

## So coming back to our discussion..here the patient pays for the xray.. and he usually doesnt sign any agreement with the hospital relinquishing his rights..the patient very much should own copyright in x-ray taken..

my question was : because here the doctor paid on behalf of the poor patients..and preserved the work for research sake..and subsequently puts such collection for publishing a book..is the doctor entitled to claim rights ? or can other publishers use the same without prior permission..as here technically speaking..the patient cannot be identified or located after so many years..so as to seek license/permission from him..

Has there been any infringment by the second publisher when he uses certain x-ray images from the book of the first publisher..wherein the first publisher himself doesnt own copyrights..and the true owners cannot be identified/located???

Hoping to get some simple answers without further fireworks :)

Regards,

Raza Ahmed Siddiqui
B.Com(H),LLb,PGDIPR,GCIP
ADVOCATE
RAZABHAI (SM)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW ATTORNEYS
HYDERABAD, INDIA
Mob : 091-9246531923
Email : razabhai[_at_]yahoo.com
URL : http://www.razabhai.com Received on Tue Mar 22 2005 - 02:45:02 GMT