Ask Dharam Pal Singh, the owner of Delhi University’s Rameshwari Photocopy Service, about the Delhi High Court’s Friday judgment and he says that he has been doing a service to students by making “course packs” available over the years.
Expensive books
The suggested reading list that is put out for every course by Delhi University, he says, draws from a variety of expensive publications. In fact, in some cases even libraries do not have copies of the books. According to Mr. Singh, only a few chapters are required from every book because of which students find it a waste to buy a book for just a few pages.
The Association of Students For Equitable Access to Knowledge (ASEAK), which was formed in protest against the case on Rameshwari Photocopy Service, welcomed the judgment.
Injunction order
The publishers (Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Taylor and Francis Group) had asked for their case to be restored and for an order of injunction to be passed stopping the production of course packs.
According to the ASEAK, in the context of the Indian Copyright Act, the judgment is a fair, balanced determination of the rights of copyright owners and users.
