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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 Shri 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) (program(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 subdistributors 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 respondent&
with the Ron-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 I 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
respondent& that there is no transfer of copyright or
any part thereof under the agreements entered into by
the respondent with the nonresident supplier of software
cannot be accepted.