Copyright is a bundle of monopoly rights granted to the owner of a work for a
statutorily limited fixed term. The Indian Copyright Act, 1957, prescribes the scope of
these monopoly rights, the kinds of works they may be attached to, the duration for
which the rights are exercisable, and the penalties that are attracted when these
monopolies are violated. An essential aspect of our post-independence copyright system that
is similar to other countries (but also different in many salutary aspects) is the
elaborate list of `fair-dealing' exceptions that are contained in Section 52 of the Act. This
section carries an extensive narration of uses by various actors—both individual and institutional—that
would not amount to infringement of copyright. Thus, for
instance, the making of backup copies of computer programs, or the public recitation of
an extract from a book would not violate the copyright monopoly since they are saved
by the operation of Section 52. These `exceptions to infringement' were inserted
as safeguards to ensure that the operation of copyright law did not yield outcomes
that encumbered the very objective of the copyright itself—the widest dissemination
of knowledge. This paper analyzes one of these exceptions—Clause (o) of Section
52(1) which grants special permissions to public libraries (the library exception). The
clause is examined in the light of recent technological advancements; and with an eye
on India's treaty obligations under the Berne Convention and the TRIPS agreement.
Section 52(1)(o) of the Indian Copyright Act declares, "the making of not
more than three copies of a book (including a pamphlet, sheet of music, map, chart or
plan) by or under the direction of the person in charge of a public library for the use of
the library if such book is not available for sale in India".
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