Academia, reproduction and copyright protection

01-12-2012

Lucy Rana

With the emergence of new economic models, the traditional education system has given way to a new academic structure where IP rights play a significant role.

While copyright issues have existed for more than a century, their prevalence in academic institutions has never been so great. Academic publishers Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Taylor & Francis recently initiated proceedings against Rameshwari Photocopy Service, a photocopy shop located in the Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University and the University of Delhi, seeking prohibition against unauthorised photocopying, reproduction and distribution of copies of their copyrighted books.

Barriers to copyright protection

The first Copyright Act was enacted in India in 1847 and has been amended eight times to meet technological and socioeconomic changes. Scholars, however, believe that copyright protection cannot permeate the education sector as much as it has other artistic fields.


India Copyright Act, Education, Photocopying, Lucy Rana

WIPR