What test determines whether a work is protected as an 'artistic work' under the Copyright Act, 1957 or as a 'design' under the Designs Act, 2000?

A two-pronged approach applies. First, the court asks whether the work is purely an 'artistic work' entitled to protection under the Copyright Act, or a 'design' derived from an original artistic work and subjected to an industrial process, based on the language of Section 15(2). Second, if the work does not qualify for copyright protection, the test of 'functional utility' is applied to determine its dominant purpose and thereby whether it qualifies for design protection under the Designs Act. The inquiry is case-specific, guided by statutory provisions, judicial precedents and comparative jurisprudence.

Copyright Act, 1957 — s.2(c) — s.14(c) — s.15(2) — Designs Act, 2000 — s.2(d) — Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Or. VII r.11 — Artistic work and design — Functional utility — Two-pronged approach — Copyright Act, 1957 — s.15(2) — Designs Act, 2000 — s.2(d) — Two-pronged approach — Held: A two-pronged approach governs the overlap. The court first asks whether the work is purely an artistic work or a design subjected to an industrial process, then applies functional utility to determine its dominant purpose. (¶60) Copyright Act, 1957 — s.2(c) — s.14(c) — Original artistic work — Copyright survives industrial application — Held further: An original artistic work does not lose copyright merely because a design derived from it is industrially applied. Artistic work under Section 2(c) has a wide connotation and need not possess visual appeal. (¶55, 58) Copyright Act, 1957 — s.15(2) — Designs Act, 2000 — Fifty reproductions — Copyright in design ceases — Held further: Copyright in a design capable of being registered under the Designs Act but not so registered ceases once the article is reproduced more than fifty times by an industrial process. Design protection is not granted by default. (¶56, 59) Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Or. VII r.11 — Mixed question of law and fact — Rejection of plaint — Held further: Whether drawings are an artistic work or a registrable design is a mixed question of law and fact, not decidable on a prima facie inquiry into the cause of action. Appeals dismissed; trial directed. (¶67, 68)

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