MOHANLAL GUPTA Vs. BOARD OF SCHOOL EDUCATION HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff is author of 'Grah-Lekha Aur Gharelu Ankganit' (House-hold Accounts and Domestic Arithmetic) issued in Hindi for the fist time in May 1971. This book was published by Multan Kitabghar, Honsi and was prescribed by the Board of School Education, Haryana for Matric/Higher Secondary Part I examinations for the years 1971 and 1972. The Board dropped it from the list of its prescribed books in July 1972 and brought out its own 'Matriculation Gharelu Ankganit' in 1973 with an edition of 25,000 copies. According to the plaintiff a substantial part of the last mentioned book was copied from the book authored by him and in this manner his copyright was violated. The plaintiff has marked 100 and odd portions of the two books to furnish instances of the way piracy has been committed. The Board has, of course, denied that it has been guilty of any breach of copyright, the copyright material of its publication having been claimed as original thought of the authors and editors who were commissioned to compile it.

(2.) It has been urged on behalf of the Board that the plaintiff's book was not covered by the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957 and the proceedings launched by him are not, therefore, maintainable. Vide Section 14 (1) of the Act, 'copyright' means the exclusive right, by virtue of, and subject to the provisions of, the said Act, - (a) in the case of a literary, dramatic or musical work, to do and authorise the doing of any of the following acts, namely - (i) to reproduce the work in any material form; (ii) to publish the work; the defendants' contention is that the compilation of a book on household accounts and domestic arithmetic is not a literary work, and the plaintiff cannot, as such, have any copyright in the book written by him and he can sue for no remedy provided by the Act for the infringement of a copyright. 'Work', as provided by clause (y) of Section 2 of the Act, means any of the following works, namely, - (i) a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work; (ii) a cinematograph film; and (iii) a record. As per clause (o) of the same section 'literary work' 'includes tables and compilations'.

(3.) The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition, defines 'literary' as '1. Pertaining to the letters of the alphabet, 2. Carried on by letter : epistolary, 3. Of or pertaining to, or of the nature of, literature, polite learning, or books and written compositions; pertaining to that kind of written composition which has value on account of its qualities of form, 4. Versed in literature; spec. engaged in literature as a profession. Of a society, etc.; Consisting of literary men.' In Webster's Third New International Dictionary 'literary' is stated to mean-(i) literal, (ii) of, relating to, or having the characteristics of humane learning, (iii) of, relating to, or having the characteristics of literature, (iv) bookish, (v) of or relating to books, (vi) having a firsthand knowledge of literature, (vii) of, relating to, or concerning with men of letters or with writing as a profession.