Doctrine of Incorporation: The doctrine of incorporation allows international agreements to become part of national law without needing separate legislation.

Facts:

• Gramophone Company Ltd. (Petitioner/Appellant), was a well-known company that mainly manufactured musical records and cassettes.
• Gramophone Company received information from Customs Authorities in Kolkata regarding a shipment of pirated cassettes from Universal Overseas Private Ltd., Singapore, to M/s Sungawa Enterprises, Kathmandu, Nepal.
• The cassettes were allegedly unauthorized copies of Gramophone Company's products.
• Gramophone claimed that the respondent was using unauthorized copies of their cassettes.

Background/ Procedural Posture:

• The Appellant approached the Registrar of Copyrights under section 53 of the Copyrights Act 1957 but did not receive an expeditious.
• Consequently, the Appellant filed a writ petition in the Calcutta High Court, where a Single Bench granted an interim injunction allowing the inspection of the consignment for potential copyright violations.
• If any cassettes infringed the Appellant's copyright, they were to be withheld until the Registrar provided further instructions.
• The Registrar was ordered to process the Appellant company's application as per legal requirements.
• Following this, the consignee contested the Single Bench's decision, leading to a Division Bench of the High Court overturning the writ petition and favoring the appeal.
• The Division Bench determined that the goods entering India en route to Nepal did not constitute 'importation', interpreting 'import' as not just the entry of goods into India but also their integration with local property.
• The company obtained special leave to appeal.
  

Main Issues

1. Does international law automatically become part of a country's legal system without needing a specific domestic law? If international law is incorporated in this way, does it take precedence over domestic law when there's a conflict?
2. What is the meaning of the word ‘import’ used in Section 53 of the Copyright Act?