Section 41 of the Copyright Act, 1957: Works of Certain International Organisations
Section 41 of the Copyright Act, 1957 creates a specific basis for copyright protection in India for qualifying works made or first published by, or under the direction or control of, certain international organisations declared by the Central Government.
What Section 41 Covers
Section 41 appears in Chapter IX of the Copyright Act, 1957, which deals with international copyright. It addresses works connected with specified international organisations and also gives such organisations the legal capacity necessary to hold, deal with and enforce copyright in India.
Text of Section 41
41. Provisions as to works of certain international organisations.
(1) Where--
(a) any work is made or first published by or under the direction or control of any organisation to which this section applies, and
(b) there would, apart from this section, be no copyright in the work in India at the time of the making or, as the case may be, of the first publication thereof, and
(c) either--
(i) the work is published as aforesaid in pursuance of an agreement in that behalf with the author, being an agreement which does not reserve to the author the copyright, if any, in the work, or
(ii) under section 17 any copyright in the work would belong to the organisation;
there shall, by virtue of this section, be copyright in the work throughout India.
(2) Any organisation to which this section applies which at the material time had not the legal capacity of a body corporate shall have and be deemed at all material times to have had the legal capacity of a body corporate for the purpose of holding, dealing with, and enforcing copyright and in connection with all legal proceedings relating to copyright.
(3) The organisations to which this section applies are such organisations as the Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, declare to be organisations of which one or more sovereign powers or the Government or Governments thereof are members to which it is expedient that this section shall apply.
Conditions for Copyright Protection Under Section 41(1)
- The work must be made or first published by, or under the direction or control of, an organisation to which Section 41 applies.
- Without Section 41, copyright must not otherwise subsist in India in the work at the relevant time.
- The publication must satisfy either of the alternatives in clause (c): an agreement with the author that does not reserve copyright to the author, or ownership of copyright by the organisation under Section 17.
- When these conditions are met, Section 41 provides copyright in the work throughout India.
Meaning and Effect of Section 41(2)
Sub-section (2) addresses legal personality. Even if a qualifying international organisation did not have the legal capacity of a body corporate at the relevant time, the Act treats it as having that capacity for copyright purposes. This enables the organisation to hold, deal with and enforce copyright and to participate in legal proceedings concerning copyright.
Which International Organisations Are Covered?
Section 41 does not automatically apply to every international organisation. Under sub-section (3), the Central Government must declare the organisation by an order published in the Official Gazette. The provision concerns organisations having one or more sovereign powers, or their Governments, as members, where the Central Government considers it expedient to apply Section 41.
Connection With Section 17
Section 41(1)(c)(ii) expressly refers to Section 17 of the Copyright Act. Section 17 deals with the first ownership of copyright, subject to the statutory exceptions and other provisions of the Act. For Section 41, the relevant question under clause (c)(ii) is whether copyright in the work would belong to the international organisation under Section 17.
Official Legal Resources
For authoritative statutory material and updates, readers should verify the current text of the Act and applicable orders through official Government sources.
Last reviewed: 21 September 2026. This page is an explanatory legal-information resource. For a particular dispute, notification or international organisation, check the current statutory text and the relevant Official Gazette order.