TRIPS-Plus Encroachments: Evaluating the India-EU FTA Draft Intellectual Property Chapter
1. Executive Summary: The Structural Asymmetry
The draft Intellectual Property (IP) Chapter of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) introduces significant TRIPS-Plus obligations. By selectively integrating enforcement mechanisms while excluding key treaty-based exceptions, the draft risks undermining the statutory balance codified in India’s Copyright Act, 1957.
The core vulnerability lies in the treatment of the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT, 1996):
The Omission: The draft IP Chapter omits the WCT from the crucial National Treatment clause (Article 10.8).
The Asymmetry: While WCT’s digital public-interest flexibilities (Article 10) are denied National Treatment shielding, the draft incorporates stringent WCT enforcement mandates regarding Technological Protection Measures (TPMs) and Rights Management Information (RMI) via Footnote 1 of Article 10.8(1).
The Result: Foreign rightsholders could demand rigid enforcement against digital circumvention without being bound by the broad statutory public-interest and educational exceptions recognized under Indian domestic law.
2. Comparative Matrix: Indian Copyright Act vs. Draft EU-India FTA
| Issue / Domain | Indian Copyright Act, 1957 | Draft India-EU FTA Chapter | Strategic Risk for India |
| Circumvention of TPMs (Digital Locks) | Section 65A(2): Explicitly permits bypassing TPMs to facilitate any lawful purpose under Section 52 (fair dealing, reverse engineering, education). | Articles 10.18 & 10.19: Imposes strict civil and criminal liabilities for circumvention; lacks reciprocal National Treatment for WCT digital exceptions. | Criminalises legitimate academic and security research; converts standard fair dealing into an actionable infringement. |
| Interoperability & Software Auditing | Section 52(1)(ab) & (ac): Permits observing, studying, and reverse-engineering code to achieve interoperability or discover vulnerabilities. | Rigid anti-circumvention provisions without an overarching exception mechanism. | Chills indigenous software development, bug bounties, and independent cybersecurity research. |
| Transient & Incidental Storage (ISPs) | Section 52(1)(b) & (c): Safe-harbour shielding for RAM copies and server caching created automatically during data routing. | Article 10.11(a): Grants an unqualified exclusive reproduction right over "temporary or permanent" reproductions. | Exposes Indian telecom and digital intermediaries to systemic cross-border infringement litigation. |
| Educational Fair Dealing & Archiving | Broad exceptions upholding student access to study materials (cemented in the DU Photocopy Case); allows format-shifting by public libraries. | Imposes a narrow EU-style "Three-Step Test" (Article 10.21) on all limitations and exceptions. | Digital paywalls and DRM controls override judicial precedents, restricting open access to research collections. |
3. Systematic Impact Analysis
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ DRAFT IP CHAPTER (EU-INDIA FTA COMMITMENTS) │
└──────────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
│
┌────────────────────────┴────────────────────────┐
▼ ▼
┌─────────────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ Strict TPM Anti-Bypassing │ │ Broad Reproduction Rights │
│ (Articles 10.18/10.19) │ │ (Article 10.11a) │
└──────────────┬──────────────┘ └──────────────┬──────────────┘
│ │
┌───────── ──┴───────┐ ┌───────────┴───────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
[Students & Labs] [Public Archives] [Intermediaries] [Legal Safe Harbours]
Criminal liability for Loss of format-shifting RAM/Cache storage Rule 75 Copyright
reverse-engineering rights for digital treated as copyright Rules rendered
and vulnerability tests preservation infringement vulnerable
A. Academic & Scientific Innovation
Modern software is wrapped in digital encryption. By stripping the safe-harbour protections of Section 65A(2), students examining software architectures risk criminal prosecution.
Academic libraries face legal paralysis regarding digital preservation and format-shifting for out-of-print historical works protected by restrictive DRM.
B. Digital Intermediaries & Cloud Infrastructure
Modern packet-switched networks depend entirely on transient RAM copies. Subjecting "temporary reproductions" to exclusive rightsholder control disrupts the foundational notice-and-takedown regime under Rule 75 of the Copyright Rules, 2013, increasing compliance and legal costs for Indian IT infrastructure.
4. Constitutional & Jurisprudential Dilemma
Executive Overreach vs. Legislative Domain: Under the Indian constitutional scheme (Article 253 read with the Seventh Schedule, Union List Entry 14), international treaty ratifications cannot automatically dilute domestic rights. Negotiating away statutory exceptions codified by Parliament in Section 52 and Section 65A encroaches on the legislative domain.
Dilution of the DU Photocopy Case Principle: The Delhi High Court (Chancellor, Masters & Scholars of University of Oxford v. Rameshwari Photocopy Services, 2016) held that copyright is not an absolute divine right, but a statutory tool to promote education and public knowledge. The draft text risks subordinating this public welfare doctrine to bilateral commercial trade leverage.
5. Strategic Way Forward for Indian Negotiators
Explicit Insertion of WCT in National Treatment: Insist on amending Article 10.8 to include the WCT alongside other multilateral treaties, ensuring India retains the full spectrum of Article 10 WCT flexibilities.
Preserving Non-Negotiable Carve-Outs: Maintain an unequivocal carve-out for domestic fair dealing (Section 52) and TPM exceptions (Section 65A), ensuring that circumvention for lawful, non-infringing purposes remains completely immune from liability.
Affirming Transient Safe Harbours: Reiterate the Agreed Statements to the WCT (Articles 8 & 10) in the text of Article 10.11 to explicitly protect routine server caching and transient internet routing from the scope of reproduction rights.
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