DOCTRINE OF MERGER IN COPYRIGHT

A Rough Draft submitted in partial fulfilment of the course Intellectual

Property Right, 7th SEMESTER during the Academic Year 2019-20

SUBMITTED BY:
Kumar Mukul Choudhary
Roll No. - 1535
B.A LL.B

SUBMITTED TO:
Prof. Dr. S.C Roy
FACULTY OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHT

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, NAYAYA NAGAR,

MEETHAPUR, PATNA-800001
 INTRODUCTION
The fundamental rule of Copyright law is that facts and ideas are not copyrightable, it is only
the creative expression of such ideas and facts that is rewarded by law, by conferring a privilege
to exclusively exploit such expression for a limited time. However, not all expression are
accorded protection under the Copyright Law. The law affords protection to expressions that
are fixed in a medium and are ―original. Section 13 of the Copyright Act provides that
―original, literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works are subject matter of copyright.
However, in situations where the idea and expression are inseparable or merged, doctrine of
merger is applied by the Courts. This doctrine postulates that where the idea and expression
are intrinsically connected, and that the expression is indistinguishable from the idea, copyright
protection cannot be granted. Therefore, if the idea and expression are so well merged that the
idea itself becomes copyrightable, it would hinder the growth of creativity which is against the
very objective of copyright law.
The doctrine of merger provides that when the expression is the idea, and vice-versa, and there
is only one way to express the underlying idea , the idea will merge with the expression as to
make them indistinguishable. Consequently, the expression becomes non-copyrightable .

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The Aims and Objectives of this project are:
1. To study about the doctrine of merger in copyright.
2. To do the comparative study of doctrine of merger.

HYPOTHESIS

The researcher considers the following hypothesis:

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
For this study, Secondary research method was utilised. Various articles, e-articles, reports and
books from library were used extensively in framing all the data and figures in appropriate
form, essential for this study.
The method used in writing this research is primarily analytical.

SOURCES OF DATA
The researcher will rely upon both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary sources
will include cases while the secondary sources will include books, articles and websites.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Though the researcher will try her level best not to leave any stone unturned in doing this
project work to highlight various aspects relating to the topic, but the topic is so dynamic field
of law, the researcher will sight with some of unavoidable limitations.

TENTATIVE CHAPTERIZATION

1. Introduction
2. Importance of doctrine of merger
3. Case study
4. Comparative analysis of doctrine of merger
5. Conclusion

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. International Bureau of WIPO, Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works: Basic Rules and Special Rules for Developing Countries,
WIPO/GIC/CNR/GE/86/4, May 1986
2. M. Blakeney, Intellectual Property and Traditional Knowledge: Protection of
Indigenous Folklore; Protection of Folklore, WIPO/IPR/MRU/00/10, July 2000