Digital Signature (DSC) is a signature in an electronic format. Digital Signatures are used in India for online transactions such as Filing Annual Return, Company or LLP Incorporation, Income Tax E-Filing, E-Tenders, etc. There are 3 types of Digital Signatures – Class I, Class II and Class III. Class I digital signature is used for securing email communications. Class II digital signature is utilized for company registrations, IT Return, E-filing, obtaining DIN, DPIN, etc. Class III digital signature is used for E-tendering and participating in E-auctions.
Documents required
On filling up all the necessary details you must affix your recent photograph and put your signature under the declaration. Check thoroughly for completion of the form. Take a print of the completed form and preserve it.
On completion of the above-mentioned steps by filling in the DSC Form and providing necessary documents and payment, you have successfully completed the application process for your Digital Signature Certificate.
Rectifying Mistake in Digital Signature Certificate
To change the details or rectify mistakes in the Digital Signature Certificate (DSC), an organization needs to follow the following procedure:
The owner of a copyright in an existing work or a prospective owner of a future work may assign to any person the copyright, either wholly or partly and either generally or subject to limitations and either for the lifetime of the copyright or any thereof. However in the case of future work, the assignment shall take effect only when the work comes into existence.
It may noted that after assignment, the rights of the assignor in the copyright shall be diluted to the extent of the rights so assigned to the assignee and in respect of the rights so assigned, the assignee shall be considered to be the owner during the period of assignment.
The assignment of copyright in any work shall be valid only when it is in writing and signed by the assignor of his duly authorized agent.
Advantages of Copyright registration
Legal Rights in Copyright
Under the Indian Copyright Act 1957, copyright preserves the social, economic and legal interests of the author. The copyright owner is allowed to retain the following exclusive rights.
The Copyright Act says that no 3rd party can reproduce or make copies of the original work or part of the work unless the copyright owner has authorized to do so. It limits reproduction in the form of printing an edition of a work and recording sound and films.
The copyright creator can choose to use his work whichever way he needs. That is, he/she can build derivatives from the existing work or make new work in the same form or another form based on the original work. The following actions outline the term adaptation as per the Copyright Act:
Copyright owners can make their work open to the public using broadcast or wireless distribution whether in any or more of the forms of symbols or visual images.
The owners of musical work and artistic work can do their works publicly. For example, a musician can play his part or an actor can perform in his play for the crowds. The artists can also choose to advertise their performance on digital platforms.
The Copyright Law grants the moral rights of paternity and integrity to the creators. The right of paternity or attribution indicates that the creator can maintain authorship over his work and have it attached to him. That is, whoever wants to reproduce or change the original work has to provide due credit to the author or else the author has the right to take the actions against the maker. For example, if a person needs to make a movie out of a book, he/she must properly acknowledge the author. The right of integrity preserves the right of the holder and lets him/her claim damages when someone changes, damages or alters his work creating disputation to his name and work.
The copyright holder may distribute his work in any form by reproducing, selling, renting, leasing or lending. He/she can also assign particular rights to a person to either copyright the work partly, entirely or subject to some limitations.
Infringement of Copyright
Copyright protection gives exclusive rights to the owners of the work to reproduce the work enabling them to derive financial benefits by exercising such rights. If any person without authorization from the owner exercises these rights in respect of the work, which has copyright protection, it constitutes an infringement of the copyright. If the reproduction of the work is carried out after the expiry of the copyright term, it will not amount to infringement.
Section 51 of the Act contemplates situation in which a copyright shall be deemed to be infringed. This section states that a copyright is infringed when any person without a license granted by the owner of the copyright or the Registrar of Copyrights or in contravention of the conditions of a license so granted or of any condition imposed by a competent authority-
The owner of copyright can sue the person who has infringed the copyright in his work in the District Court having the jurisdiction and shall be entitled to all such remedies by way of injunction, accounts and damages and otherwise as are conferred by law for the infringement of the right. However, if the defendant proves that at the date of infringement, he was not aware or had no reasonable grounds for believing that copyright subsisted in the work, then the plaintiff shall only be entitled to an injunction and account of profits made by the defendant by sale of the infringing copies. In this case, plaintiff shall not be entitled to any damages.
What counts as infringement of copyright?
What does NOT counts as infringement of copyright?
Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) are the digital equivalent (that is electronic format) of physical or paper certificates. Few Examples of physical certificates are drivers’ licenses, passports or membership cards. Certificates serve as proof of identity of an individual for a certain purpose; for example, a driver’s license identifies someone who can legally drive in a particular country. Likewise, a digital certificate can be presented electronically to prove one’s identity, to access information or services on the Internet or to sign certain documents digitally.
A Digital Signature can be obtained by any person (Indian Citizen and Foreign Nationals) and any type of business entity (Partnership, LLP, Company, Trust and others).
Digital signature can be obtained within 1-3 working days from date of submitting the application along with the required documents.
No, physical verification is not required for issuing a Digital Signature.
To obtain a Digital Signature, application form for the Digital Signature must be submitted along with a self-attested copy of the applicant’s identity proof and address proof and also along with photograph of applicant.
With the e-commerce boom, government agencies have adopted digital signature, and it is also a statutory requirement for many e-forms to be digitally signed by the authorised signatory. So individuals and entities need to obtain the digital signature. A digital signature certificate establishes the identity of the holder. It is like a PAN card or a passport and enables the holder to prove his identity.
A digital signature certificate is a valid legal instrument and can be used for digitally signing various documents. It can be used for filing income tax returns, e-tenders, for various regulatory company filings.
While applying for the certificate, the individual or company must purposely select the class. The different classes of digital signature certificates are as follows: Class 1: This cannot be used by companies. It only verifies the name and email address of individuals. Class 2: This is needed by companies and other entities. It can be used for filing tax returns. A Class 2 digital signature certificate verifies the identity of a person against a pre-verified, trusted database. However, from 01.01.2021, the Controller of Certifying Authority has instructed to discontinue Class 2 Certificates and Class 3 Certificates will be issued in place of Class 2 Certificates. Class 3: This is needed for individuals or entities who would like to participate in online auctions or tenders. It is the highest and most secure form of a digital signature certificate. To obtain this, the applicant must present himself or herself in front of a registration authority.
Most certifying authorities take between three to seven days to issue a digital certificate in India.
The Certifying Authorities are authorized to issue a certificate with validity of 1 or 2 years depending upon the class of DSC being procured. The holder must be well aware of the validity of the certificate to avoid any business loss.
