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Copyright, Culture and Contemporary Debates: A Jurisprudential Analysis of Fair Dealing in India

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Field Value
 
Title Copyright, Culture and Contemporary Debates: A Jurisprudential Analysis of Fair Dealing in India
 
Creator Sawlani, Chelsea
 
Subject Copyright
Fair Dealing
India
Sci-Hub
Cultural Theory
Section 52
 
Description 200-210
As technological developments continue to disrupt creative industries, they put to test our copyright doctrine. The recent
litigation initiated against Sci-Hub and LibGen by three publishers raises complex questions permeating the Indian
copyright regime. In this context, it is important to determine the values our copyright system serves and the standards of
‘fairness’ it demands to exempt certain infringements. This paper studies the Indian fair dealing jurisprudence from a
theoretical standpoint to argue that it lacks a robust normative foundation. It first maps the prevalent theories of copyright
and suggests that the cultural theory not only exposes gaps in the dominant incentive theory but also offers a more
comprehensive understanding of copyright. It then analyses Indian fair dealing cases from this viewpoint. While the
jurisprudence is largely inconsistent, analysis of two important cases reveals that while their outcome was desirable from a
cultural theory perspective, their doctrine is insufficient to excuse certain socially-valuable infringements. Their emphasis on
transformativeness coupled with an implicit bar on verbatim reproductions is critical. It is suggested that the Indian fair
dealing jurisprudence is unfit to foster a just and attractive culture; one that strives to attain pluralistic values essential for
the ‘good life’.
 
Date 2023-05-30T09:48:38Z
2023-05-30T09:48:38Z
2023-05
 
Type Article
 
Identifier 0975-1076 (Online); 0971-7544 (Print)
http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/61973
https://doi.org/10.56042/jipr.v28i3.713
 
Language en
 
Publisher NIScPR-CSIR,India
 
Source JIPR Vol.28(3) [May 2023]