India-EU Free Trade Agreement and Copyright Concerns

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Key takeaways

The European Commission seeks formal approval for the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), triggering debates over copyright provisions.
Proposed draft IP rules threaten legal exceptions under Section 52 and Section 65A of India's Copyright Act, 1957 regarding education and research.
Under the draft agreement, the EU offers zero-duty access across 97% of tariff lines covering 99.5% of Indian export value.
In exchange, India agrees to lower tariffs on 92.1% of its tariff lines while protecting sensitive agricultural items like dairy and poultry.
India joined the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) in 2018 and must retain its multilateral flexibilities during bilateral negotiations.

The European Commission has requested official approval from European Union member states to finalize the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
This development draws significant focus toward the agreement's proposed rules on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
The proposed IP rules could force major amendments to India's Copyright Act, 1957.
Experts worry these changes will harm fair dealing, educational access, academic research, digital archives, and internet service providers.

The intellectual property chapter of the proposed India-EU FTA threatens key flexibilities in India's Copyright Act, 1957.
These changes specifically threaten fair dealing rights and digital copyright exceptions designed for students, researchers, digital libraries, and internet intermediaries.
India must carefully balance foreign intellectual property demands with domestic policy space to protect public access to knowledge.

The draft FTA enforces strict rules from the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) but excludes its vital public exceptions from the National Treatment clause.
This selective enforcement could undermine Section 52 of India's Copyright Act, 1957, which safeguards Fair Dealing for educational, research, and non-profit digital uses.
The EU demands strict TRIPS-Plus enforcement of Technological Protection Measures (TPMs), which function as digital locks on intellectual content.
These rules weaken Section 65A of the Indian Copyright Act, which lets students, librarians, and cybersecurity researchers bypass digital locks for lawful purposes.
An absolute ban on breaking digital locks risks making routine software testing and digital library preservation illegal.
The draft agreement introduces a restrictive three-step test for copyright exceptions based on European legal traditions.
Since Indian courts rely on specific statutory exemptions rather than flexible doctrine, this restrictive test leaves little legal cover for public interest uses.
The draft grants copyright holders complete control over temporary digital copies, contradicting the WCT which explicitly exempts temporary network data caching.

If accepted, the draft rules could make students and researchers criminally liable for routine data analysis or software reverse-engineering.
Tech companies and internet providers could face expensive lawsuits over routine transient data caching required for internet operations.
Indian universities, libraries, and small web platforms lack the financial resources to fight long court battles against wealthy European rightsholders.
A similar issue arose during the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations regarding IPR and domestic policy space.
In those talks, heavy emphasis on voluntary licensing threatened India's ability to issue compulsory licensing for affordable patented medicines.
Negotiations also raised concerns about patent-working disclosures and India's efforts to secure reliable technology transfer.
These discussions highlight why India must defend TRIPS flexibilities and public health safeguards during all free trade negotiations.

The EU offers major market access by opening 97% of its tariff lines to Indian goods.
This tariff removal covers 99.5% of total Indian exports to the region by economic value.
The deal eliminates tariffs ranging from 4% to 26% on $33 billion worth of labor-intensive goods like textiles, leather, footwear, gems, and marine products.
It improves Mode 4 professional mobility for corporate transferees, contract service providers, and independent experts.
The agreement pledges deeper cooperation to reduce non-tariff barriers related to Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) standards.

India promises a calibrated opening by lowering duties on 92.1% of tariff lines, covering 97.5% of EU import value.
India completely shields sensitive domestic sectors like dairy, cereals, poultry, and soymeal from foreign competition.
The deal guarantees clear operating rules for European businesses in services like telecom, finance, shipping, and environmental management.
It supports small businesses through Rules of Origin (RoO) self-certification and offers origin flexibilities for items like shrimp and aluminium.
India protects its generic drug industry, safeguards the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), and maintains full power to enforce data localization.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) oversees India's modern, TRIPS-compliant intellectual property system.
The Copyright Act, 1957 protects creative works, with Section 52 allowing Fair Dealing for education, research, and news reporting.
Section 65A of the same act permits bypassing digital locks when done for lawful, non-infringing reasons.
The Patents Act, 1970 regulates inventions and includes Section 3(d) to stop the evergreening of drug patents, keeping generic medicines affordable.
The Trade Marks Act, 1999 provides legal registration and protection to prevent commercial trademark fraud.
The Geographical Indications of Goods Act, 1999 protects unique regional products tied to specific geographic locations.
Other key frameworks include The Designs Act, 2000 and The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001.
In 2018, India joined the WIPO Internet Treaties to update its legal framework for the modern digital era.
The WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) protects authors of digital works, software, and databases.
The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) protects the rights of performing artists and music producers.

India must insist on keeping the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) within the trade deal's National Treatment clause.
Including these clauses ensures India can defend affordable digital education rights during international trade disputes.
India must protect the intent-based protections under Section 65A of The Copyright Act, 1957.
Breaking digital locks should only be illegal when done for piracy, not when researchers or students do it for legitimate academic studies.
India must protect internet service providers by ensuring digital lock bypasses remain legal for security research and system compatibility.
India must resist TRIPS-Plus demands that go beyond standard WTO TRIPS Agreement baselines.
Accepting extra restrictions risks giving foreign firms too much control over India's digital economy and access to knowledge.

India's chief goal in trade talks with developed nations is expanding export opportunities without losing domestic policy independence.
Bilateral trade clauses on intellectual property must never override global policy flexibilities like the TRIPS Doha Declaration.