Educators push for amendment to Copyright Act

Pune: Senior academicians and vice-chancellors of universities in the city have demanded inclusive digital education for which technology and infrastructural advances will have to be matched with changes in the copyright law enacted in 1967.
It is related specifically to open educational resources, digitisation of resource material and their sharing or lending, text and data mining, procurement and sharing of e-resources, digitally supported teaching activities, including distance learning.
In their research, the professors have stated that, the amendments in the Copyright Act also needs to ease operations of public libraries, institutional libraries, galleries and museums and archives in physical and digital frameworks including National Digital Library of India.
Prabuddha Ganguli, a professor, and vice-chancellor of Vishwakarma University Siddharth Jabade, have initiated an applied research programme for inclusive digital educational frameworks.
The research is evidence based, exploring the options being considered in select jurisdictions and to frame pragmatic, contemporary and relevant amendments to the Indian Copyright Act in the context of Digital India and the New Education Policy 2020.
Jabade said, “The Indian Copyright Act 1957 (as amended in 2012) needs immediate amendments to resonate with the digital technological developments, and requirements of knowledge creation and sharing in the digital age. Pragmatic provisions for fair benefit sharing arrangements between the creators & publishers of the works and the users will be the key to successful implementation and enforcement of the New Copyright Law in India.”
Ganguli added that the technology and infrastructural advances will have to be matched with changes in our copyright law.
“Seamless and cost-effective digital platform and enabling legal ecosystem will have a spectrum of stakeholders such as knowledge creators, seekers, users, adapters, communicators, sellers, distributors, collectors and many more,” Jabade added.
What Is Needed?
Changes should be made considering specific elements with regard to open educational resources, digitisation of resource materials and their sharing / lending, text and data mining, procurement and sharing of e-resources, digitally supported teaching activities including distance learning, reproduction of resources and their distribution / communication to public, licensing options including compulsory licensing, technology protection measures, treatment of orphan works and out of commerce works.