Hi Harish, Kindly check India's leading copyright law discussion forum spicyipindia.blogspot.com. the specific link is http://spicyipindia.blogspot.com/2010/02/andhakanoon-obtuse-copyright-exception.html The proposed wording is obtained from there and is therefore in the public domain.
Best regards, Rahul On 12 March 2010 14:15, Kotian, H P <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Rahul > > Is the material you have reproduced in public domain? I suppose not, as it > is still in the consideration of the government. In that case, I suppose it > may not be right to discuss in a public space like ours. > > Harish Kotian. > > From: rahul cherian <[email protected]> > To: raghuraman <[email protected]>, > [email protected] > Subject: Re: [AI] regardin copywrite issue > ear Raghu, > > After much campaigning by rights groups and a meeting that we had with Mr. > Kapil Sibal, the HRD Ministry has proposed the following wording for the > copyright amendment: > > > > *Section 52 (1) (za)**: The reproduction, issue of copies or communication > to the public of any work in a format, including sign language, specially > designed only for the use of persons suffering from a visual, aural or other > disability that prevents their enjoyment of such works in their normal > format.* * > > Section 31B (1):** An organization, registered under section 12A of the > income tax act, 1961 (act 43 of 1961) and working primarily for the benefit > of persons with disability, and recognized under chapter X of the persons > with disabilities (equal opportunities, protection of rights and full > participation) act, 1995 (act 1 of 1996) may apply to the Copyright Board, > in such form as may be prescribed, for a compulsory license to publish any > work in which copyright subsists for the benefit of such persons, in a case > to which clause (za) of subsection (1) of section 52 does not apply, and the > Copyright Board shall dispose of such application within three months.* > > *(2) The Copyright Board may, upon receiving an application under > subsection > (1) inquire, or direct such inquiry as it necessary, to establish the > credentials of the applicant and satisfy itself that the application has > been made in good faith. > > (3) If the Copyright Board is satisfied, after giving to the owners of > rights in the work a reasonable opportunity of being heard and after holding > such inquiry as it may deem necessary, that a compulsory license needs to be > issued to make the work available to the disabled, it may direct the > Registrar of Copyrights to grant to the applicant such a license to publish > the work. > > (4) Every compulsory license issued under this section shall specify the > means and format of publication, the period during which the compulsory > license may be exercised and, in the case of issue of copies, the number of > copies that may be issued. > > Provided that where the Board has issued such a compulsory license, it may > on further application and after giving reasonable opportunity to the owner > of the rights, extend the period of such compulsory license and allow the > issue of more copies as it may deem fit. > > (5) The Copyright Board may specify the number of copies that may be > published without payment of royalty and the fix the rate of royalty for the > remaining copies.* The abovementioned amendment is flawed for the following > reasons: > > > > i. *Use of special formats:* The exception extends only > to ?specially designed? formats such as Braille and would really benefit > only a part of the disabled community. Those affected by dyslexia, cerebral > palsy, low vision and other physical disabilities and the late blind would > require audio, reading material with large fonts and electronic texts. As > these are not formats specially aimed at a disabled group they?re not > included in the exception. In other words, more than half of India?s > disabled would be forced to pay royalties to merely access the information > that is freely available to those persons who can work with special formats. > This violates the guarantee of equality under Article 14 of the > Constitution of India, since it discriminates between those persons with > disabilities who are able to work with special formats and those for whom > the special formats make no sense. Even otherwise, by failing to institute a > meaningful copyright exception that would enable access to many educational > materials by the disabled, the State has failed in its duty to guarantee a > meaningful right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of > India. > > > > ii. *Provision to extend only to organizations primarily > working in the field of disability: *Even upon payment, compulsory > licensing of the copyrighted work is permitted only to those organizations > working primarily for the benefit of the disabled. Not only does this > exclude educational institutions such as Delhi University, Xavier?s College > Mumbai, Loyola College, Chennai and many other universities which have > resource centres and courses especially to cater to the needs of disabled > students from carrying on their activities, but it shuts out the avenue for > disabled persons to turn to other sources of getting accessible information, > such as self help groups, voluntary services run by corporates which > undertake such activities as part of their CSR initiative, as well as all > other local groups who are not primarily disabled-oriented from obtaining a > license to the work. It also denies disabled individuals to directly convert > works and access them. > > > > iii. *Delay and loss of crucial time for students:* It is > quite unacceptable that students may have to lose out on academic years due > to the expected waiting period for permissions, which would be followed by a > waiting period for conversion after obtaining permission. At the present > this has already been happening for years. But if the amendment slashes down > the already limited resources by disallowing academic institutions and > voluntary sector from undertaking conversions, then the burden on the > organizations would be too much for them to successfully manage the timely > dissemination of accessible books, resulting in a complete collapse of the > system. Waiting periods, even if for upto two months, would go a long way in > slowing down progress of children. > > > Rights groups are working together to see what options are available to > change the proposed wording so that it addresses the legitimate concerns of > persons with disabilities. > > Best regards, > > Rahul Cherian > InclusivePlanet.com > > ________________________________ > Notice: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and > intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are > addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, use, > review, distribution, printing or copying of the information contained in > this e-mail message and/or attachments to it are strictly prohibited. If you > have received this email by error, please notify us by return e-mail or > telephone and immediately and permanently delete the message and any > attachments. 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