BOOK PROMOTION AND COPYRIGHT
11.1.0 Books play an important role in the field of education.In the present context when there is an expansion of education facilities all over the country, the demand for books in terms of quantity as well as variety of subjects has been increasing. The Book Promotion Division of the Department of Education has a number of schemes and activities which aim, inter alia, at promoting the production of good quality books at reasonable prices, encouraging indigenous authorship, promoting the reading habit and providing assistance to the Indian book industry. Some of the important programmes being implemented in this regard are briefly described in the following paragraphs.
National Book Trust 11.2.1 The National Book Trust, India, (NBT), an autonomous organisation, was set up in 1957 with the objectives of producing and encouraging production of good reading material at moderate prices and fostering book mindedness among the people. The activities of the NBT broadly are to publish books; provide assistance to authors, illustrators and publishers; and to promote books. The NBT publishes books for general readers, on a variety of subjects, in Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu, at affordable prices. Over 5400 titles in the various languages have been published by the NBT so far. The Trust provides financial assistance to authors, illustrators and publishers for bringing out reasonably priced textbooks and reference books for the diploma, under-graduate and post-graduate levels; and for publication of books for children and for neoliterates. It promotes books and the book reading habit all over the country by (a) organising book fairs, festivals and exhibitions; (b) holding seminars, symposia and workshops; (c) providing financial assistance for organising book fairs and exhibitions; (d) sponsoring celebration of National Book Week; and (e) promoting setting up of Readers, Club in schools. it also promotes Indian books abroad by organising India's participation in international book fairs in different countries. Details of activities undertaken during the year are as follows:
(a) Publishing 11.2.2 While drawing up its publishing programme in the various languages, an attempt is made to ensure that under the different series of NBT, a common but wide range of titles is available in every language.
11.2.3 The Nehru Bal Pustakalaya Series aims at creating a treasure-house of enjoyable and informative literature which children can red at their own initiative. It also promotes national integration by providing common reading material in their mother tongues to children all over India. More than 2755 titles, including translations and reprints, have so far been brought out on a wide range of subjects. These include history,
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folk-tables, festivals, the freedom movement, science and technology, flora and fauna, fiction, sports, tribal life, Indian painting, the life and works of outstanding Indians and excerpts from the works of great Indian writers. During the period April" December, 1991, 112 titles were published.
11.2.4 Short stories, biographies, novelettes, transcriptions of folk tales, the presentations of relevant issues and functionally useful information are brought out in the series Reading Material for Neo-Literates. To make this material suitable for the intended audience, books in this series are written in an idiom familiar to its readers, with 30-40% space devoted to illustrations. Sixty titles have been published so far, out of which 11 were brought out between April and December, 1991. A Workshop for developing reading material for neo-literates in Tamil was organised at Pondicherry from 22 June to 2 July, 1991.
11.2.5 The National Biography series recounts the lives of eminent Indians, or those closely connected with India, who have made a significant contribution in various fields, including religion, philosophy, history, literature, music and science. So far over one hundred twelve biographies have been published which, with their language translations, total around 721. Twenty-one titles were published during the period under review.
11.2.6 Aadan Pradan is a series of special importance because of its unique potential for forging national integration through the exchange of creative literature. It presents well known literary works, including novels, plays and short stories, of one Indian language to the people of other linguistic regions. In addition, anthologies of the writings of specific periods or of one or more distinguished authors are brought out. Already, more than 870 titles in 12 Indian languages have been published in this series of which 9 were published between April and December 1991.
11.2.7 Books under `India The Land and People' series introduce the varied physical environments, the diverse cultural traditions and the flora and fauna which have enriched the composite culture and colourful character of India. Since these books are meant for readers who may not be familiar with the subject, they are written in non- technical, language by subject experts and provide authentic and up-to-date information. Over 433 titles have been brought out in the major Indian languages, including English; five were brought out between April and December 1991.
11.2.8 The main objective of publishing books in the Young India Library series for the 18+ age group is to introduce social, economic and political concepts, issues and choices which will confront young people in the coming years, arouse their curiosity and motivate them to further reading. Stories of adventure, travel etc. and books on career opportunities are also included in this series. Seven titles were brought out between
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April and December 1991.
11.2.9 The Popular Science series aims at enabling the average educated reader to understand the world around him, learn about the role science and technology play in everday life and foster the development of the scientific spirit. Every attempt is made to ensure that the information provided is scientifically reliable and authentic. Four titles were brought out between April and December 1991.
(b) Assistance in Publishing 11.2.10 To promote publication of books of acceptable quality at reasonable prices, the NBT provides financial assistance to authors, illustrators and publishers under the schemes described below :
Scheme for the Subsidised Publication of Books 11.2.11 Under this scheme the NBT has already provided financial assistance for the publication of approximately 780 titles for higher education. Similarly, the UGC has a scheme under which assistance is provided to authors for preparing university level books. The UGC as well as the NBT have, however, been seriously concerned about the availability of carefully documented and well-written text and reference books, prepared specifically for the Indian students, by distinguished authors and experts. On careful consideration, both the organisations have come to the conclusion that their schemes would be more effective if these can be carried on within a framework of greater coordination. After detailed discussions these national organisations have now evolved a policy framework for coordinated functioning of their respective schemes and have signed a Memorandum of Understanding.
Exploratory Schemes to Provide Assistance for the Production of
Books for Children and for Neo-Literates 11.2.12 NBT has initiated schemes to provide financial assistance to private publishers and voluntary agencies for producing quality books for children and for neo-literates and school dropouts, whereby the NBT makes direct payments to both the author and the illustrator and, in addition, bears the expenses of preparing the positives of selected manuscripts.
(c) Book Promotion 11.2.13 The book promotion activities of the NBT include organisation of book fairs, book festivals, workshops, seminars and symposia on topica related to books; celebration of National Book Week; etc. Seventh National Book Week was celebrated from 14th to 20th November, 1991. During the year the Trust organised the Madurai Book Festival (31 August - 8 September, 1991), Bhopal Book Festival (28 September - 6 October, 1991), a Children's Book Fair each in Calcutta (9-17 November, 1991) and Delhi (28
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December - 5 January, 1992). NBT has also undertaken a pilot project of setting up Readers, Clubs in about 25 selected schools of the New Delhi Municipal Committee.
World Book Fair 11.2.14 The 10th World Book Fair, the largest book fair held in India so far, was organised at New Delhi, from February 1-9, 1992 by National Book Trust, India on behalf of this Ministry. Lakh of latest books in English, Hindi and other Indian and foreign languages were exhibited by more than 850 participants from 24 countries, including France, Germany, Japan, Britain, America, Iran, New-Zealand, Italy, China, Netherland, Switzerland, Singapore, Malaysia, Egypt, Bangladesh and Pakistan. To promote translation of books a Rights-Hall was set up by Trust in the Fair.
Book Promotional Activities & Financial Assistance to Voluntary
Organisations 11.3.0 Under the scheme of Book Promotional Activities and Financial Assistance to Voluntary Organisations, grant is given on ad- hoc basis to the voluntary organisations for organising training courses, seminars, workshops, conventions, etc. This scheme also provides for the expenditure on the exchange of delegation of authors under the Cultural Exchange Programme.
Publication. of Low Priced University level Books of Foreign Origin
11.4.0 The Department has been operating three programmes in collaboration with the Governments of U.K., U.S.A. and Russian Federation. Under these projects, the latest editions of standard foreign university level text-books and reference books for which comparable Indian books are not available are taken up for publication in low-priced editions. So far, 763 British, 1668 American and 650 Russian Federation titles have been published. In addition, 38 American and 68 Russian Federation titles have been recommended for publication during the year.
Indo-Russian Federation Literary Project (20th Century Literature
Project) 11.5.0 The Indo-Russian Federation Committee set up for the publication of contemporary creative works of both the countries has formulated a project to publish the translation of the major 20th Century Literature of India and the Raussian Federation in about twenty volumes each. The first two volumes were released during the celebration of the Festival of India at Moscow. The Sahitya Akademi, which is the nodal agency for implementing the project on the India side, has purchased 1000 copies each of the two volumes in accordance with the protocol signed in this regard. The manuscripts of the 3rd, 4th and 5th volumes sent by the Russian Federation side for Hindi translation were edited and recommended by experts in India and returned to the Russian
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Federation for publication. All the 20 volumes are expected to be published by 1995.
National Book Development Council 11.6.0 National Book Development Council has been reconstituted on 6.11.90 to review the progress of book publications in the country and to advise the Government regarding measures to be taken for the development of the book industry and trade, to promote the availability of special purpose books of good quality, etc.
New Import Policy for Books & Publications 11.7.0 The current Import Policy for books and periodicals has come into force from April 1990 and will be effective till March 1993.
Book Export and Promotional Activities 11.8.0 India is one of the major book producing countries. 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 commercial publicity through circulation of annotated catalogues, brochures, etc. Under Cultural Exchange Programme exhibition of Indian Books were organised in Maldives and China during 1991-92.
Raja Rammohun Roy National Agency for ISBN 11.9.0 The International Standard Book Numbering (ISBN) System aims at boosting the export of indigenous publications at the international business arena and to minimise to the maximum the day-to-day book trade practices in day-to-day business. It is an international system by which a distinct identifying number is assigned to each book. The ISBN system is still in its infancy in India but, in addition to the book trade, the system is very helpful to the libraries and information systems and to research scholars. From Ist January, 1985 to 31st October, 1991 about 1175 big and small publishers and autors have become the members of the system and thousands of their publications today bear the ISBN numbers.
Copyright 11.10.1 The Copyright Office was established in January, 1958 in pursuance of Section 9 of the Copyright Act, 1957. The Copyright Act has been amended by the Copyright Amendment Act of 1983 and the Copyright Amendment Act of 1984 to meet the present day requirements. The President has promulgated the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance, 1991 on 28th December, 1991. By this amendment, the term of copyright has been extended from 50 to 60 years.
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11.10.2 The Copyright Office, under the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957 as amended from time to time, undertakes to register the following classes of works
(a) Literary Dramatic
(b) Musical and Records
(c) Cinematograph films
(d) Artistic
In addition to this, the Copyright Office also registers the changes in the Register of Copyright in respect of different classes of work in accordance with Section 49 of the Copyright Act, 1957. During the year 1991-92, 1741 works were registered under the Act.
11.10.3 The Copyright Board, a quasi-judicial body, was constituted initially in September, 1958. The jurisdiction of the Copyright Board extends to the whole of India. It hears cases regarding rectification of copyright registration, and disputes in respect of assignment of copyright to grant licence -
* in works witheld from public
* in unpublished Indian works
* to produce and publish translations and
* to produce and publish works for certain purposes.
11.10.4 It also hears cases in other miscellaneous matters instituted before it under the Copyright Act, 1957. The meetings of the Board are held in different zones of the country to provide facility of justice to the authors, creators and owners of intellectual property near their place of residence or occupation. The Copyright Board was reconstituted on 8th May, 1990 for a period of about 4 years upto 31 March, 1994. During the year 38 cases were decided by the Board.
International Copyright 11.11.1 India is a member of two International Conventions on Copyright namely, the Berne Convention for the protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the Universal Copyright Convention. Both these conventions were revised in 1971 to incorporate special provisions to enable the Developing Countries to issue compulsory licences for reproduction and translation of books of foreign origin for specific purposes in case these rights could not be obtained by freely negotiated terms from the owners of copyright. India has acceded to the 1971 texts of these conventions.
11.11.2 India plays an important role in the deliberations of the Governing Bodies of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Geneva which is the International Secretariat for the Berne Convention for the protection for Literary and Artistic Works.
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11. 11.3 A WIPO National Workshop on Intellectual Property Teaching was held in Delhi from 21 to 25 October, 1991. This workshop was organised by the Delhi University in collaboration with the Department of Education and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). WIPO deputed four experts, one each, from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Thailand besides two senior officers from WIPO itself to participate in the workshop. This was the first WIPO organised gathering in India, since May, 1990 and first teaching workshop of its kind involving the academic community. It is also felt that intellectual property as an area in legal studies needs to come into its own in this country in view of its increasing international importance.
11.11.4 Dr. Arpad Bogsch, Director General, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) , accompanied by Mr. Shahid Ali Khan, Deputy Director General (WIPO) and Mr. Jeoffrey Yu, Director (Counsellor) - WIPO, visited India from 22-25th of January, 1992 and had meetings with the Vice-President, Prime Minister, Minister for Human Resource Development, Minister of State for Commerce, Minister of State for Industry and others.
Training facilities in Copyright 11.12.0 The WIPO under its cooperation Development Programme, organised training courses in Copyright for officials dealing with Copyright in developing countries. During the year, the following two officers of the Department participated in the training course organised by the WIPO;
1. Shri R.N. Tewari, Director, Department of Education attended the ninth session of the WIPO permanent Committee for Development Cooperation related to Copyright and Neighbouring Rights at Geneva from 15th to 18th April, 1991.
2. Shri R.L. Raichandani, Desk Officer, Adult Education attended the WIPO Training Programme on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights at Budapest from 11th to 22nd November, 1991.