We have previously covered the recent copyright dispute between Oxford University Press and other publishers against Delhi University in great detail. In this post, I explained why Delhi University must defend in court, its practice of photocopying course packs (consisting of only essential reading material required for a particular course) for the benefit of students who cannot afford to purchase a personal copy of the entire book.
It appears that Delhi University is now slowly distancing itself from the photocopier and is not resisting the suit with all its might. It is time for students and academics to come together and take a stand.
There is now a petition available on Change.org that urges the publishers to drop the suit so that this specific practice (and not any other potentially unlawful activities relating to photocopying) can continue unrestricted.
As the petition rightly states: “The reason we make course packs is to ensure that students have access to the most relevant portions of the book without which we would be seriously compromising their education“
Over 250 people have already signed the petition in a mere 24 hours. Please do sign the petition by clicking here and pass it along to your friends and colleagues as well – it only takes a few seconds, costs nothing and is sure to have an impact on the future of education and access to learning material in India. After all, a child without an education is like a bird without wings.
UPDATE: A complete list of signatories, including some very big names in the academic world, is available here (this will be continually updated). The petition has already amassed more than 600 signatories in just over 2 days. You can sign the petition by clicking here.
When according to you there is no case then why r pleading with the Publishers to withdraw? Or yet again you were wrong in your reporting of facts and Law…??
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@Comment No. 1
You appear to be labouring under the delusion that the mere fact that there is no case is the end of the matter.
1.Think about the cost of litigation in our country – those guys will end up spending lakhs to win a case that should not have been brought in the first place.
2. Think about the use of injunctions that would restrain them from their operations (pending disposal of the suits).
3. Think about the time and effect on students. While this case continues and an injunction remains in place(which could be several years, who are the biggest losers – students.
Apart from all the above, I fail to see why you take objection to a petition espoused by the authors? Moreover, as far as their reporting goes, the large following of this blog is ample testimony to its accuracy. Its ridiculous to be critizing them without presenting any contrary PoV!
@ Anonymous 4:34PM – I don’t think I could have said it any better than Anonymous 8.54 PM. Thanks for being the voice of reason.
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This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.