By Nitika Sinha and Nieharika Sharma
Introduction
The advent of the digital era has had a profound effect on copyright interpretation and enforcement worldwide. India is in need of reviewing its copyright rules, paying special attention to the digital sphere, to make sure that public access and publisher rights are balanced and not conflicting as instanced in the recent Internet Archive case of the U.S. Court. Fair use, digital lending, publisher rights, and the ramifications of reproducing copyrighted work for public benefit are among the issues raised in this case.
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP, INC.[1] VS. INTERNET ARCHIVE: BRIEF OVERVIEW
The Internet Archive (hereinafter referred as IA) was embroiled in a prolonged legal dispute about the propriety of its operations and whether their practice qualified as a fair use or not. IA was overruled by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [2]. In place of physical libraries, the National Emergency Library (NEL) program was introduced in response to the COVID outbreak. Thanks to IA, as the readers, researchers, and students were able to access a number of volumes digitally.
Hachette Book Group Inc. et al. (2024) filed a lawsuit, alleging copyright infringement. The District Court ruled in the publisher’s favor in March 2023, noting that IA had produced “derivative works” that were neither licensed nor transformative, IA appealed, and the Hon’ble Court ruled on September 04, 2024, that the practice was not fair use and protected the publisher’s rights. The ruling upholds the rights of authors and publishers to license and be compensated for their books and other creative works.
DIGITAL LENDING IN INDIA: EMERGING CHALLENGES
The Indian Copyright Act of 1957 was primarily designed to protect writers, publishers, and other copyright holders while also guaranteeing equitable public access to information. A copyright owner of a literary work is authorised to reproduce the literary work in any material form including its storage in any medium by electronic means.[3] Further, Section 14 (a) (vi) of the Act talks about adaptation rights of the copyright owner which accords the sole right of altering a work into a different format. For instance, creating a soft copy of a book accessible in physical mode amounts to its adaptation as the physical copy has been converted into electronic copy.
Whereas a non-commercial public library may “store work in any medium by electronic means for preservation if the library already possesses a non-digital copy of the work.[4]” Thus, only non-commercial public libraries are accorded an exemption from the afore-mentioned restriction under the fair use provision. Thus, reproduction of copyrighted work may be allowed if the same is being done under Section 52 of the Act. For example, an author cannot claim rental rights over lending of books, magazines or other work when it is done by an institution for education purposes without any profit motive. Hence, the reason why libraries and educational institutions may lend books or other work without any license or permission from the author of the work.
As per the information available on National Digital Library of India (NDL), the aforesaid exception for libraries mentioned under the Copyright Act do not extend to libraries having only electronic books in their collection. Before making any further copies of electronic books, libraries must enter into contracts with the respective copyrights owners.
India’s growing digital infrastructure, including platforms like NDL, can be impacted if copyright holders push for stricter regulations, fearing market disruption. There is no established legal framework in place at the moment to address digital book lending. It is crucial to advocate for more lucid legal frameworks for digital lending that fall under the categories of fair dealings or fair use.
LESSONS FOR INDIA: FINDING A MIDDLE GROUND
This case clearly illustrates how digital reproduction without permission from publishers or authors may have detrimental effects for digital platforms/libraries. For India, the challenge lies in maintaining the balance between protecting author’s rights and ensuring public access to knowledge. To ensure the balance between the two realms, the following strategies could help:
1. Amendment of the Copyright Act
- Overall, the copyright owners are facing lot of issues because of technological advancements not limited to copyrights but stretches to every domain that includes technology such as AI generated content, digital platforms, VPNs etc. It is required to make inclusive provisions related to digital reproduction and lending that could assist the counter authorities to manage copyright and other technology related issues emerging in digital era.
- It is necessary to provide clarifications on how digital lending will fit into the existing rules so that platforms such as IA may operate legally and without infringing intellectual works.
2. Licensing Models
- A collaborative licensing model between right holders and such libraries/platforms should be encouraged to allow digital lending platforms/libraries to distribute works legally and ensuring that the publishers or authors are compensated for their work.
3. Technological Solutions
- The respective technology should limit the number of downloads/ availability of books for a limited period of time as done in the case of physical books.
Conclusion
It can be inferred from the above that the legal position of digital libraries is still ambiguous in India, as there are reasonings to consider their practice as fair use. In this case, we observe that on one hand there are researchers and scholars to whom such libraries provide access to knowledge, resources that enhances learning and academic exploration and on the other hand, there are authors whose rights should be fairly compensated by payment for their original works.
Achieving this equilibrium promotes information sharing while also respecting author’s intellectual rights. This case will undoubtedly benefit the publishing industry at large in terms of protecting and commercializing their rights in a channelized manner, having distribution control and power. Ultimately, we must remember that the goal of copyright is not just to protect the interests of copyright owners but also intellectual enrichment of the public. The challenge for lawmakers will be to strike the right balance, ensuring that copyright law remains relevant and fair in the digital era while continuing to support innovation, creative freedom and knowledge sharing.
[1]23-1260 (2nd Circuit 2024).
[2]Internet Archive.
[3]Section 14(a) (i) of the Copyright Act, 1957.
[4]Section 52(1) (n) of the Copyright Act, 1957.