Fair Dealing in India: When You Can Use Others' Content Without Permission

You may have heard that "fair use" lets you use others' content. In India, the concept is called fair dealing, set out in Section 52 of the Copyright Act, 1957. It allows certain limited uses without permission, but it's narrower than many people assume, especially for business websites.

What fair dealing covers (broadly)

Fair dealing with a work for purposes such as:

• Private or personal use, including research
• Criticism or review of that work or another work
• Reporting current events and affairs

Section 52 also lists other specific exceptions (for example certain educational uses and judicial proceedings).

Key factors courts consider

Indian courts look at the overall fairness, including:

• The purpose of use (commercial vs non-commercial, transformative vs copying)
• How much was used
• Whether the use competes with the original or harms its market
• Whether the source is acknowledged

Examples for websites

Business marketing ≠ fair dealing

Using photos, text or music to promote your business is a commercial use and rarely qualifies as fair dealing. Use your own content, licensed stock or properly credited, permitted material. See free stock photos.

Safer practices

• Quote briefly, attribute the source and link back
• Write your own summaries instead of copying
• Get written permission for images and longer extracts
• Keep licence records

FAQs

Is giving credit enough to make use legal?

No. Attribution is good practice but doesn't by itself make copying lawful.

Can I use screenshots of other websites in a blog review?

Short screenshots for genuine criticism or review may be fair dealing, depending on the circumstances. Keep them limited and relevant.

This article is general information, not legal advice.