The Hindu Lit For Life Unplugged: Author and lawyer Xerxes Ranina discusses his book Who Owns What? and the legal right behind creative work

What exactly can you own when you create something? And how can young creators protect their work? These questions took centre stage at The Hindu Lit for Life Unplugged, presented by Prakriti Foundation on September 5, at The Lab@Shanta in T Nagar, as lawyer and author Xerxes Ranina was in conversation with Ranvir Shah, founder trustee, Prakriti Foundation. The conversation drew on Xerxes’s new book Who Owns What? published by HarperCollins India. 

The conversation explored everyday legal questions creators often grapple with — from copyright and contracts to what happens when someone uses their work without permission. 

Mr. Ranina began by breaking down the often-confused distinctions between patents, trademarks and copyright. “A trademark is a brand that you are interacting with. Adidas, Pepsi, the name and the logo both are trademark. Copyright deals with various creative works like a literary work, piece of music, theatre, photography, and films,” he said. 

“Patents usually deal with an invention. So, you invent something that has an industrial purpose, and it’s created through an industrial method, and then that’s something you can patent,” he added.

For creators, he emphasised, copyright begins much earlier than many realise. “One of the important benefits of copyright is that it accrues immediately on creation,” Mr. Ranina said. “You already own it.” This, he added, was particularly important for young creators who may assume that registration is necessary before they can claim ownership of their work. 

The conversation moved into music and traditional knowledge, where ownership becomes more complicated. Traditional forms themselves may not be protected, Mr. Ranina explained, but original additions can be. “If you add something to a traditional raga, that addition can be protected,” he said. 

He also spoke about making remixes of old songs in movies, which he says the copyright laws allow under certain conditions, while social media use of the copyright material remain a complicated area. “Since so many people are using it, it can become impractical to go behind them all.”  

In fashion, he cautioned against making broad claims of copying. “You cannot copyright a generic dress. There has to be that unique, specific element. If you have that unique element, then that is protectable. But once you start producing it more than 50 times through an industrial process, then you have to look at design protection,” he says.

He also touched upon personality rights, explaining that a celebrity’s likeness can extend beyond a photograph to their voice, mannerisms or distinctive style. He also noted that parody can be protected as fair use, as long as it is being used as parody rather than as a commercial endorsement. 

The final subject was AI, where Mr. Ranina acknowledged that the law is still evolving. “There is no law yet in India, so we are really in uncharted territory when it comes to AI laws.”