Comparing the present time with his days as a student, Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said students today can’t be expected to spend days in the library, or buy books.
According to him, it would qualify as fair use if students take photographs of relevant portions on their mobile phones to read later.
“In the times when I was studying law, the facility of photocopying was limited, time-consuming and costly. The students then used to take turns to sit in the library and copy pages by hand. Subsequently, they would either make carbon copies or get these photocopied. The photocopying machines then did not permit replicating voluminous books without dismembering them. However, students now are not required to spend days in the library and copy pages,” said the judge.
‘Not in an ancient era’
“When modern technology is available for comfort, it would be unfair to say that the students should not avail of it and continue to study as if in the ancient era. No law can be interpreted so as to result in any regression.”
“Today, nearly all students carry cell phones with inbuilt cameras, which enables them to click each page of the book as required. Thereafter, they can connect the phone to a printer. The same would again qualify as fair use and cannot be stopped,” he added.
Interestingly, the court equated the Rameshwari Photocopying shop being given a licence by DU to run in the Delhi School of Economics as the one set up by Bar Association in its library in the High Court so as to reduce the burden of carrying heavy books for references while arguing in the court.
He also said that in many cases, students use a photocopier themselves, but in DU, that was not the case, which is why a licence has been given for a kiosk.
