Delhi University and Rameshwari Photocopy Service have been accused of infringing copyright laws in a legal suit filed by publishers Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Taylor & Francis. The publishers have told the court that the photocopiers, at the instance of Delhi University, were reproducing their publications and issuing them in the “most unauthorised and illegal manner”. They also contended that this compilation that the photocopiers were distributing had to be stopped immediately as the academic year had begun and the distribution of such “pirated” copies would increase, thereby causing them revenue losses.
On August 14, the Delhi High Court had issued an order appointing a local commissioner to visit, without any prior notice, the premises of Rameshwari Photocopying Service. An inventory of all the infringing or pirated copies was to be made and to be seized and handed over to the defendants only on the basis of a surety. The Commissioner was allowed to take the assistance of the police. The Commissioner’s fee was fixed at Rs.75,000 along with any out-of-pocket expenses to be borne by the plaintiff.
The raids were subsequently conducted this past Saturday.
