The publishers that had dragged Rameshwari Photocopying Services, a kiosk on the premises of the Delhi School of Economics to court for infringement of copyright, have withdrawn the case.
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Taylor and Francis were the publishers that had appealed against the Delhi High Court’s September 2016 order that the photocopying of course packs prepared by Delhi University did not amount to infringement of copyright.
Statement issued
In a joint statement on Thursday, the publishers said, “We have taken a considered decision not to pursue the Delhi University photocopy shop case further.”
They added that they continued to stand by their principles stated throughout the case and sought to enable equitable access to knowledge for students.
“We understand and endorse the important role that course packs play in the education of students. We support our authors in helping them produce materials of the highest standard and we maintain that copyright law plays an important part in balancing the interests of those creating, curating, and disseminating learning materials with those requiring access to them [sic],” the statement read.
The publishers added that they would work closely with academic institutions, teachers and students to understand and address their needs, while also ensuring that all those who contributed to improving India’s education system—including authors and publishers— continued to do so for the long term.
In September 2016, Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw had said “Copyright, especially in literary works, is thus not an inevitable, divine, or natural right that confers on authors the absolute ownership of their creations. It is designed rather to stimulate activity and progress in the arts for the intellectual enrichment of the public.”
‘Harvest of knowledge’
He had added that “copyright is intended to increase and not to impede the harvest of knowledge”.
In December 2016, a revision Bench comprising Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Yogesh Khanna had restored for trial the issue whether photocopying study material for course packs was a violation of copyright.
