Section 4 of the Copyright Act, 1957 - When Work Is Not Deemed to Be Published or Performed in Public

Section 4 of the Copyright Act, 1957 creates a specific rule for deciding whether a work is to be treated as published or performed in public when the act was done without the copyright owner's licence. The rule operates except when the question concerns infringement of copyright.

Text of Section 4

Section 4 - When work not deemed to be published or performed in public.
Except in relation to infringement of copyright, a work shall not be deemed to be published or performed in public, if published, or performed in public, without the licence of the owner of the copyright.

Meaning and effect of Section 4

The provision means that an unauthorised act of publishing a work or performing it in public does not, merely because it occurred, make the work legally "published" or "performed in public" for other purposes of the Copyright Act. The important exception is an infringement inquiry: an unauthorised publication or public performance may still be examined to determine whether copyright has been infringed.

This distinction protects a copyright owner from having the legal status of a work altered merely because another person acted without permission. At the same time, Section 4 does not provide immunity to the person who carried out the unauthorised act.

Related definition: publication under Section 3

Section 3 of the Copyright Act, 1957 defines "publication" as making a work available to the public by issue of copies or by communicating the work to the public. Section 4 qualifies the operation of that concept where the publication or public performance takes place without the copyright owner's licence.

Key points

Licence of the copyright owner: The statutory rule turns on whether the publication or public performance was authorised by the owner of copyright.

Unauthorised publication: Outside an infringement question, an unauthorised publication does not by itself cause the work to be treated as published for purposes of the Act.

Unauthorised public performance: The same principle applies where a work is performed in public without the copyright owner's licence.

Infringement exception: The opening words "Except in relation to infringement of copyright" preserve the application of copyright infringement provisions to unauthorised conduct.

Legal note: Section 4 should be read with the relevant definitions and infringement provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957. The legal effect in a particular dispute depends on the facts, the rights involved and the applicable provisions of the Act.

Official legal resources

For the authoritative statute and current copyright administration information, refer to the Government of India's India Code and Copyright Office resources linked in the sidebar.

Page reviewed and updated: 21 September 2026.