In an interesting decision this year, the Hon’ble Andhra Pradesh High Court in the case of Smt. Addala Sitamahalakshmi v State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors., has ruled that mathematical equations and science subject, are a matter of fact and laws of nature so everyone is authorised to use it without the fear of copyright infringement.
In this case the petitioner was engaged in the business of publishing, distributing books of mathematics, and science for students studying intermediate, for ICSE and CBSE boards. The Andhra Pradesh around 2011 government had issued an order stipulating that all books of the syllabus for intermediate education should be purchased from Telugu Akademi and no private institute could publish these books (“Order”). Soon, the petitioner’s premises were inspected by the police and their printed books and printed materials were seized and the factory premises were sealed since it was claimed that the petitioner’s activities were in violation of the Order. The petitioner filed the present Writ Petition against the respondent’s criminal complaint and claims of the petitioner infringing its copyright.
It was argued by the petitioner that the Order per se was arbitrary and in violation of Article 19(1) of the Constitution of India. Furthermore, it was also argued that since these books being published were non-literary in nature, copyright does not exist in these books. The respondent argued that the petitioner by preparing new books on the government approved syllabus and selling them to students, engaged in piracy. Furthermore, the books published by the petitioner were alleged to be identical and similar to Telugu Akademi’s books and reprinting and republishing of Telugu Akademi’s books amounted to an act of copyright infringement.
The Court held that mathematical equations and science subjects, are a matter of fact and laws of nature so everyone is authorised to use it without the fear of copyright infringement. Furthermore, it was ruled that the petitioner was protected under Section 52 of the Copyright Act which states that fair use is an exception to copyright infringement in case of educational use for the benefit of students and educational institutions. Therefore, even if the petitioner’s books are assumed to be pirated copies of the respondent’s books, the action would be considered as an exception under the Copyright Act, 1957. The court reasoned that for a literary to qualify as protectible under copyright act, it should be original and since the books on mathematics and science are non-literary in nature. Also, the Order was directed specifically to private institutions but not the petitioner- a publisher in this case. Therefore, the court directed the respondents not to interfere with the legitimate business of the petitioner.
While the decision in this case may be beneficial for the petitioner, it is also somewhat confusing, as it implies that books on mathematics and science are factual and not eligible for copyright protection, which is not entirely in consonance with the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957. The Act per se does not make a distinction on the types of work that may not qualify as literary works thereunder.