PHOTOCOPYING AND DOCTRINE OF FAIR DEALING: AN ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT Photocopying of text books, materials, course packs etc has become a substantial or rather inevitable part of any man‟s life in the technologically progressing world. Academicians, to be precise, generally photocopy either due to lack of books or due to exorbitant prices of the same. Major section of people in a developing country like India, who hail from diversified economic backgrounds, cannot be usually expected to splurge money on highly expensive volumes for carrying out their academic accomplishments. All those who are in dire need of information, but have no access to any hard copy of the material, usually tend to photocopy the required text or contents of the base material source for their subsequent academic usage. This is the point of threshold where the legal question arises regarding the infringement of copyright of publishers. The main question is whether the photocopying of books, materials, course packs etc for academic purposes amount to infringement of copyright or not. The answer to this may vary with facts and circumstances in each case. But in general, there is a common exception recognized by various countries i.e., “Fair Use”. The doctrine of fair use evolved in U.S. In Common law countries it is known as “Fair Dealing” and is similar to the U.S. doctrine of fair use. In India, fair dealing or fair use has been recognized and dealt under Section 52 of Copyright Act, 1957 which says „Certain acts not to be infringement of copyright‟. Section 52 (1) (h) says that there is no infringement if it is done by a teacher or a pupil in the course of instruction. The recent judgment of Delhi High Court which recognized this doctrine was hailed as historic one by the students, Indian publishers etc. Therefore, this paper would deal with the analysis of the exception of fair use for educational or academic purposes. It would also explain the Indian position regarding the photocopying, whether it would amount to copyright infringement in light of the recent Delhi High Court judgment.