BOOK PROMOTION AND COPYRIGHT
Books have an important role in the field of education. With the
expansion of educational facilities in the country, there is also an increase
in the demand for books in terms of quantity as well as the variety of
subjects. The Book Promotion Division of the Department of Educa-
tion takes steps to promote the production of good quality books at
reasonable prices, encourage indigenous authorship, promote reading habit
among the masses and help the Indian book industry in solving its
problems. Some of the important programmes undertaken this regard
are briefly described in the following paras :-
NATIONAL BOOK TRUST
The National Book Trust was set tip in 1957, as an autonomous
organisation with the objectives of producing and encouraging produc-
tion of good reading material at moderate prices and fostering book-
mindedness among the people. In pursuance of these objectives, the
Trust has been producing books in Indian languages as well as in English
in well-defined series. The Trust also organises book fairs at international,
national and regional levels and holds seminars and symposia on various
aspects of book writing. Further, it participates, on behalf of the
Indian publishing industry in book exhibitions held abroad to promote
the export, of books. It has two regional offices at Bangalore and
Bombay and eight book centres at Amritsar, Bangalore, Bombay,
Calcutta., Hyderabad, Mysore, New Delhi and Santiniketan.
Publishing Programmes Some of the important series under which the Trust publishes books
are : India-Land and the People, National Biography, Young India,
Folklore of India, Popular Science and World of Today. Since its incep-
tion, the Trust has brought out 3247 titles under these series.
Besides the above series, the Trust has two major publishing pro-
grammes for national integration, namely, Aadan Pradan, and Nehru
Bal Pustakalaya series. Under the Aadan Pradan series, the Trust has
so far brought out 654 titles in various languages. Under the Nehru
Bal Pustakalaya. series, 1,248 titles have been published so far.
Book Fairs The Trust has so far organised 13 national book fairs in important
metropolitan cities of India and over 125 regional book exhibitions. It
has organised seven world book fairs in New Delhi including the one
of February, 1988. A special activity undertaken by the' Trust during
the period under report was the organisation of Book Exhibition/Exposi-
tion on the development of printing and publishing in India in connection
with the Festival of India in U.S.S.R. Two exhibitions were held at
Tashkent and Frunze in the USSR and five more exhibitions will be
organised during 1988-89. Seven exhibitions of Soviet books are to be
organised in different cities in India.
Subsidised Scheme of University To encourage indigenous authorship the Ministry has a scheme
Level Books of subsidised publication on university level books written by Indian
authors. with a view to making them available to the students at reasonable
prices. This scheme is being implemented since, 1970 through the
National Book Trust, The total number of books subsidised till 31st
March, 1987 is 777. The scope of the scheme, which originally covered
books in English has been extended to cover university level books in
Hindi and regional languages as well as technical books at polytechnic
level.
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publication of low-priced University The Department of Educations operating four bilateral programmes
Level Books of Foreign Origin in collaboration with the governments of U.K., U.S.A., U.S.S.R. and the
G.D.R. to make available, standard books of foreign origin to the Indian
University students in low-priced editions. Latest editions of books are
considered for coverage under these programmes and are assessed by
expert agencies from the standpoint of their suitability for Indian students
and on the basis of Indian books of comparable standards not being
available. Thereafter, suitable books are recommended for being published
in English and Indian languages. So far about 763 British, 1,630
American, 600 Soviet and 9 GDR books have been published under these
programmes.
Indo-Soviet Literature Project The Indo-Soviet Committee set up for the publication of contemporary
creative works of both the countries had formulated a project to publish
the translation of the 20th Century Literature of India and the USSR in
about 20 volumes each. The first two volumes were released during
the celebrations of the Festival of India at Moscow. The remaining 18
volumes are expected to be published by 1995.
Import of Books During 1987-88, the liberalised Import Policy was continued and
import of educational, scientific, technical books and journals, news
magazines and newspapers and records for learning of languages was
allowed under Open General Licence. This facility is subject to a ceiling
of 1000 copies of a single title per importer and in cases where more
than 1000 copies of a single title were required, the Department's prior
permission is required to be obtained. Recognised institutions can
import teaching aids, microfilms etc. of educational nature under Open
General Licence. The import of foreign editions of books for which
editions of Indian reprint are available was not allowed.
Dealers in books with a purchase turnover of books valuing Rs. 3.00
lakh or more were eligible to apply for import licence on the basis of
10 per cent of their purchase turnover for the import of books other
than those covered by the Open General Licence. In addition, recognised
schools, colleges and libraries were allowed to apply for import licence
upto the value of Rs. 25,000 per institution for the import of licenceable
items. The concession for the release of post parcels containing books,
magazines and periodicals without the importers having to produce
import licences continued to be avalable during 1987-88.
The Import Policy for books and publications for the period April
1988 to March 1989 is under formulation.
Book Expert & Promotional Activities India is one of the ten major book producing countries of the world
and ranks third in production of English titles. To promote sale of
Indian books and translation reprinting rights abroad and for securing
printing jobs from abroad, steps are being taken to publicise our books
through participation in international book fairs and organising special
exhibitions of Indian books, by conducting market studies and com-
mercial publicity through circulation of annotated catalogues, brochures,
etc.
In 1987-88, India participated in the international book fairs/exhibi-
tions held in London, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Moscow, Frankfurt,
Belgrade and Cairo. Special exhibitions of Indian books were organised/
will be organised as part of the Festival of India celebrations in the
U.S.S.R. as already stated. Book exhibitions are also proposed to be
organised in Bangladesh and Indonesia during 1987-88.
As a result of participation in the international book fairs/exhibitions-
abroad, our export of books including journals and periodicals for the year
1987-88 is estimated to be about Rs. 28 crores.
Raja Rammohan Roy National The Centre was established in July 1972. The Centre functions as an
Educational Resources Centre information-cum-research centre and provides documentation and Statistical
analysis facilities in regard to the details of import of books. The
Centre has under one roof a large collection of university level books
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produced since 1965 in all Indian languages in various disciplines. The
Centre conducts on-the-spot evaluation of indigenous books to assess
their usefulness for university level students and organises exhibitions of
these books in various Indian universities. During 1987-88, the Centre
organised six such exhibitions at Behrampur, Calicut, Dhanbad, Garhwal,
Rajkot and Srinagar. The Centre has been designated as a national agency
for operating the international standard book numbering system (ISBN)
in India. Four hundred and three publishers have been given identifier
numbers under this system. The specific purpose of this project is to
help in modernising the publishing industry.
C O P Y R I G H T
The Copyright Office was established in January 1958 in pursuance
of Section 9 of the Copyright Act, 1957 (14 of 1957).
During 1987-88, the Copyright Office has registered 772 works, the
break-up of which is 457 artistic works, 312 literary works and 3 cinemato-
graph films. In addition to this, the Copyright Office has registered
changes in the particulars of copyright entered in the register of Copyrights
in 20 cases of artistic works.
India is a member of two international conventions on Copyright,
namely, the Berne Convention (1948), and the Universal Copyright
Convention (1952). Both these conventions were revised at Paris in 1971
to incorporate special concessions to be given to the developing countries
to enable them to issue compulsory licences for reproduction/translation of
books of foreign origin for educational purposes. The Indian Copyright
Act 1957 was amended in 1963 for incorporating the provisions of the
Paris Text of 1971 of the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright
Convention concerning grant of compulsory licences for translation and
reproduction of foreign books required for educatinal purposes ; providing
adequate protection to authors' rights and removing administrative draw-
backs and other lacunae experienced in the administration of the Copyright
Act 1957. The Copyright Amendment Act 1983 came into force w.e.f.
9-8-1984. The Copyright Act was further amended in 1984 to check the
problem of widespread piracy in the country. Infringement of Copyright
has been made a cognisable offence. The Act came into force w.e.f.
3-8-1984.
The Copyright Board, a quasi-judicial body, has also been set up to
hear cases regarding rectification of copy-right registration, disputes with
respect to assignment of copyrights, grant of compulsory licences in works
withheld from public of unpublished Indian work, grant of licences to
produce and publish translations, and to hear other matters under the
Copyright Act 1957. During 1987-88, the Board field 6 meetings, beard
159 cases and decided 19 cases.
During 1987, India participated in the following meetings/seminars
etc.
(i) Extraordinary Session of the Executive Committee of the
International Union for the protection of Literary and Artistic
works (Bern Union) and the 7th Ordinary Session of the
Inter-Governmental Committee and the Universal Copyright
Convention held in Geneva from June 22-30, 1987.
(ii) Eleventh Ordinary Session of the Inter-Governmental Com-
mittee of the international Convention for the Protection of
Performers, Producers of Phonograms and broadcasting
organisations (Rome Convention) held in Geneva from
July 1-3, 1987.
(iii) Governing Bodies of World Intellectual Property Organisations
(W.I.P.O.) and the Unions administered by W.I.P.O. held in
Geneva from September 21-30, 1987.
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Training Facilities in Copyright Under the Annual Copyright Training Programme 1987 of WIPO,
India has offered to receive two trainees from Developing Countries for
imparting training in the field of Copyright during 1987.
Under the WIPO Traineeship Programme, one officer each participated
in the specialised training course on the administration of Copyright from
31st August to 14th September, 1987 in Sweden and Switzerland; the
Copyright Training Course from 8th to 27th October, 1987 in UK and
Switzerland ; and the Workshop on Copyright from November 2 to 13 in
Australia.
Cultural Exchange Programmes The Cultural Exchange Programmes with Mexico, Yugoslavia, China
and Mauritius provide for exchange of Copyright Experts as well as up-
to-date material on Copyright. A one-member delegation of Copyright
Experts from India visited Mauritius to advise the Government of
Mauritius on the setting-up of a Copyright Unit during the year, 1987.
National Society of Authors Arrangements are being made under the Seventh Five Year Plan to
set up a National Society of Authors with a view to protect their Copyright
Interests.