 A work is fixed in a tangible medium of expression when it’s written down, recorded, or otherwise made permanent so that it can be perceived and reproduced by others.Berne Convention provides that the copyright subsists in literary and artistic works “whatever may be the mode or form of its expression” allowing each signatory to determine whether it will require fixation “in some material form.”

Indian regime follows the fundamental rule of copyright law, laid down in Article 9(2) of TRIPS and Article 2 of WCT, 1996, that copyright does not subsist in ideas and only protects original expression of the ideas.The requirement of fixation in material form is a precondition for copyright to subsist in a work.