Copyright is not a divine right, RS Endlaw J dismisses suit against DU photocopiers [Read judgment]

Almost two years after reserving judgment, the Delhi High Court today gave a reason for Delhi University students and faculty to rejoice. Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw dismissed a four year old suit filed by a consortium of publishers – Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Taylor and Francis Group against photocopiers in Delhi University, accusing them of selling compilations of text books and other course material for “commercial gain”.

In October 2012, Justice Kailash Gambhir had granted an injunction to the publishers against Rameshwari Photocopy Services, a photocopier located at the Delhi School of Economics.

Justice Gambhir held,

“The photocopier has no right to compile such course packs and books/articles published by the plaintiffs and more so, when DSE has taken a stand that they have no intention to breach any law by making such reproductions.”

The injunction led to other photocopiers also stopping from selling “course packs”. As reported by Daily Mail, these books would have cost over Rs. 7,000 while the course packs were sold for Rs. 200.

Today, Endlaw J dismissed the suit; the 94-page judgment hinges on the exceptions to copyright infringement mentioned in Section 52 of the Copyright Act of 1957.

More specifically, sub-clause (h) of S. 52 states that reproduction of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work by a teacher or a pupil in the course of instruction and for the course of activities of an educational institution will fall under the “fair use” exemption.

The plaintiffs were represented by Saikrishna Rajgopal and Sahil Sehti, while the various defendants had senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam and Neeraj Kishan Kaul, along with Rajesh Yadav, Saurabh Seth, Saurabh Banerjee, Rajat Kumar, Swathi Sukumar, and Anu Paarcha.

Read the judgment below.