Debika Ray: Academics – based in countries including the UK, the US, Australia, France, South Africa, Argentina, Egypt, and the occupied Palestinian territories – refute the idea that the publishers are acting in their interests. They also argue this kind of photocopying is within the law, that it is not causing the publishers to lose money, and that it is an essential part of education in India. “The number of academics who’ve signed the petition should be clear indication that authors do not share these concerns. We want our works to be available as widely as possible,” says Nivedita Menon, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, who is involved in the anti-lawsuit campaign. “The action is entirely to do with profit, and nothing to do with the authors, whose living expenses are met by the publicly funded university system, not piddly royalties,” Menon said. Thomas Metcalf, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, is mentioned in the lawsuit. “As an author whose writings appear to have triggered this controversy, I am happy to accept smaller royalties on sales of my books to widen the audience, especially in a developing country such as India,” Metcalf says. Shamnad Basheer, professor of intellectual property law at Kolkata’s National University of Judicial Sciences, argues that India’s 1957 Copyright Act allows the production of so-called course packs. “Two exceptions in the rules cover this kind of photocopying,” Basheer says. “One allows fair dealing for private or personal use, including research. The other allows reproduction by a teacher or pupil in the course of instruction.” More here.