city anchor: Authors for photocopies: More we are read, more fulfilling

Away from the legal battle in courts, students of Delhi University have been protesting on the campus against the move by publishers to ban photocopying of books. On Wednesday, several authors came out in support of the students, saying they had no problem if their works were being photocopied.

During a meeting at Delhi School of Economics, many of the authors, whose works are prescribed as "essential reading" in the university syllabi, backed the students.

"You (students) pay us, the publishers do not pay us. So, don't let the publishers speak on our behalf," Nivedita Menon said.

A professor at JNU, Menon was among the teachers who signed their photocopied books and donated them to Ratan Tata Library.

The students, who have launched the "Campaign to Save D School Photocopy Shop", had protested at the Delhi Book Fair held in September.

Historian and former DU teacher, Uma Chakravarti was not present at the meeting, but she sent across a signed copy of her book The Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism, along with a statement.

"For an academic, the photocopying revolution is as important, or even more so, than the Neolithic revolution and the Industrial Revolution. All my works are mine and my labour. The more it is read, the more fulfilled I am as a scholar. Copyright go to hell," the statement read.

Ravi Sundaram, a senior fellow at Centre for Studying Developing Societies, said: "What the photocopier did was transform the way knowledge is accessed in society. Without this, the democratisation of education could not have taken place."

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen's message had also been put up at the venue. It said he was "personally distressed as an OUP author".

"I hope that something can be done to make the academic arrangements for the education of students less difficult and more sensible," he said.

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