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"20. Having regard to the above said definition of 'royalty', we
have to consider the contents of software licence agreement
entered into by non-resident with Samsung Electronics and also
respondents in the case represented by Sri Ganesh, learned senior
counsel and Sri Aravind Dattar, wherein it is a case of purchase,
sale or distribution or otherwise of the off-the-shelf software. It is
described as a 'software licence agreement', wherein it is averred
that customer accepts an individual, non-transferable and non-
exclusive licence to use the licensed software program(s)
progam(s) on the terms and conditions enumerated in the
agreement. It is further averred that the customer - Samsung
Electronics shall protect confidential information and shall not
remove any copyright, confidentiality or other proprietary rights
provided by the non-resident. However, what is granted under the
said licence is only a licence to use the software for internal
business without having any right for making any alteration or
reverse engineering or creating sub-licences. What is transferred
under the said licence is the licence to use the software and
copyright continue to be with the non-resident as per the
agreement. Even as per the agreement entered into with the other
distributors as also the end-user licence agreement, it is clear that
the distributor would get exclusive non-transferable licence
within the territory for which he is appointed and he has got right
to distribute via resellers the Software, upon payment of the
licenses set forth in Exhibit A to the agreement only to End Users
pursuant to a valid Actuate shrinkwrap or other Actuate license
agreement and except as expressly set forth in the said agreement,
distributor may not rent, lease, loan, sell or otherwise distribute
the Software the Documentation or any derivative works based
upon the Software or Documentation in whole or in part.
Distributor shall not reverse engineer, decompile, or otherwise
attempt to derive or modify the source code for the Software.
Distributor shall have no rights to the Software other than the
rights expressly set forth in the agreement. Distributor shall not
modify or copy any part of the Software or Documentation.
Distributor may not use sub-distributors for further distribution of
the Software and Documentation without the prior consent of
Actuate. What is charged is the licence fee to be paid by the
Distributor of the Software as enumerated in Exhibit A to the
agreement. Further, Clause 6.01 of the agreement dealing with
title states that the Distributor acknowledges that Actuate and its
suppliers retain all right, title and interest in and to the original,
and any copies (by whomever produced), of the Software or
Documentation and ownership of all patent copyright, trademark,
trade secret and other intellectual property rights pertaining
thereto, shall be and remain the sole property of Actuate.
Distributor shall not be an owner of any copies of, or any interest
in, the Software, but rather is licenced pursuant to the Agreement
to use and distribute such copies. Actuate represents that it has
the right to enter into the Agreement and grant the licences
provided therein and confidentiality is protected. Therefore, on
reading the contents of the respective agreement entered into by
the respondents with the non-resident, it is clear that under the
agreement, what is transferred is only a licence to use the
copyright belonging to the non-resident subject to the terms and
conditions of the agreement as referred to above and the non-
resident supplier continues to be the owner of the copyright and
all other intellectual property rights. It is well settled that
copyright is a negative right. It is an umbrella of many rights and
licence is granted for making use of the copyright in respect of
shrink wrapped software/off-the-shelf software under the
respective agreement, which authorizes the end user i.e., the
customer to make use of the copyright software contained in the
said software, which is purchased off the shelf or imported as
shrink wrapped software and the same would amount to transfer
of part of the copyright and transfer of right to use the copyright
for internal business as per the terms and conditions of the
agreement. Therefore, the contention of the learned senior
counsel appearing for the respondents that there is no transfer of
copyright or any part thereof under the agreements entered into
by the respondent with the non-resident supplier of software
cannot be accepted.