Copyright Flexibilities at Risk in Draft India-EU FTA

Gist The European Commission’s push to finalise the draft India-EU Free Trade Agreement FTA has revealed contentious intellectual property commitments that threaten India's domestic copyright flexibilities. By selectively adopting strict digital enforcement mechanisms while omitting public-interest exceptions, the draft would force India to dilute the "fair dealing" provisions protecting students, researchers, and digital intermediaries. Aspirants must track this development as it directly impacts India's digital public infrastructure, academic research ecosystem, and sovereign policymaking regarding intellectual property. Background India's current intellectual property regime is anchored by the Copyright Act, 1957 , which carefully balances a creator's commercial rights with public access through statutory "fair dealing" exceptions. This framework is fully compliant with the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights TRIPS Agreement and the WIPO Copyright Treaty WCT . The WCT was specifically designed for the digital age to protect software and databases using Technological Protection Measures TPMs , while simultaneously allowing member states to grant exceptions for research and education. Before this FTA draft, Indian law successfully utilised these WCT flexibilities to shield students, archivists, and internet intermediaries from copyright infringement…