The high court in Delhi, India, has allowed an university to copy textbooks by major publishers because it says "copyright is not a divine right".
The presiding judge ruled that students could get books copied by the Delhi University library or its authorised photocopy unit under section 52 of the Indian Copyright Act, according to a report in the Times of India. This section exempts education from infringing on copyright.
In its order, the court ruled that if the university could photocopy content to provide education to its students, then its accredited photocopy shop could do so as well.
International publishers had sued the photocopy shop in question, Rameshwari Photocopy Service, back in 2012, alleging that it had infringed on their copyright.
{loadposition sam08}The publishers included Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Taylor & Francis.
In his judgement, the presiding judge said: "Copyright, specially 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."
It said when texts were used by the university for educational purposes and not commercial sale, it was not infringing copyright.
"In the times when I was studying law, the facility available of photocopying was limited, time-consuming and costly. The students then used to take turns to sit in the library and copy by hand pages after pages of chapters in the books suggested for reading and subsequently either make carbon copies thereof or having the same photocopied," the judge noted.
The publishers were, understandably, not happy with the verdict. In a joint statement, they said: "It is unfortunate that the court's decision today could undermine the availability of original content for the benefit of students and teachers."