Copyright infringement through e-books

With the technological growth and development of novel means of communication and information-sharing however, unprecedented challenges are being faced in protecting the work of authors.

The freedom of access to copyrighted works borders with proper utilisation of these works so that the rights of authors are not infringed. Since copyright gives the owners the exclusive rights in authorising reproduction or publication of their works, it is essential to provide them with control over the exploitation of their works in the new global networks of the information age.

Copyright provides legal protection not only for the original author, but also for the licensees and assignees of the copyright as well as the publishers. Looking at the breadth of stakeholders involved and the fora in which copyright operates, a single work may be used by multiple players in the web of rights that may be created over the digital environment.

Recently, Google Books, the initiative of Google that places the scanned version of printed books on the Internet to create a digital library for the benefit of its users, has faced allegations of copyright violations across many jurisdictions. The seven million books stored digitally on Google have met numerous class action suits by authors in the US, China, France and Germany.

In China, the China Written Works Copyright Society (CWWCS), which protects Chinese writers’ copyrights, has claimed that Google has placed scanned copies of 18,000 books by various Chinese writers without authorisation into its digital library, which is available only to Internet users in the US. Google has agreed to provide a list of the book titles that it has scanned for the purpose.

In India, concern has been raised by stakeholders that the Google initiative infringes the copyright of authors, since the books are published sans licence. The government has taken the issue of encroachment upon the copyrights of authors and publishers to the US Trade Representative.

“The terms of the settlement have to be in the interest of the Indian copyright owners for them to be binding.”

The Indian Copyright Act 1957 under Section 52 allows flexibility of fair use, where the use of books for educational purposes is exempt from copyright rules. In the present case, however, the usage of the material placed online is far and wide, involves commercial element and requires express authorisation. The users can access the works online, without the knowledge of the copyright owner. In this case, as Google is deriving profit from the uploading of content, it needs to pay an appropriate price.

Representatives from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry met the US Trade Representative, the root of apprehension being the settlement worked out between Google and the author’s guild that will be applicable to any person with a US copyright interest.

Under the US laws, a book need not necessarily be published in the US to enjoy a copyright. If the book is published in any of the countries that are signatories to the Berne Convention, a copyright can be owned therein. The authors have to register their books with the Partner Program to be able to receive compensation from Google, if they do not opt out of the scheme.

Though Google maintains that it does not upload all the books it procures for digitisation—it only publishes basic information about the books, similar to a card catalogue, in case the author is not registered with the programme—it is believed to have far-reaching ramifications for the material published in India.

This is because, in India, publications are produced in a number of regional languages, in addition to English and the national language Hindi. The publishers of regional languages may not have cognizance of their work being published online.

Even if the authors opt for the settlement, the terms of the settlement have to be in the interest of the Indian copyright owners for them to be binding. Another concern raised by the owners is the practice of displaying snippets from these works on the Internet even if the entire content is not uploaded. In this scenario, an acceptable code of conduct would need to be devised for digital copying, publishing and dissemination of works that takes into account the interests of the copyright owners as well as publishers.

Manisha Singh Nair is a partner at Lex Orbis Intellectual Property. She can be contacted at: manisha@lexorbis.com