LI Network
Published on: 29 September 2023 at 15:00 IST
The Delhi High Court has ruled that there can be no copyright claimed in scriptures themselves. However, it clarified that any adaptations of these works, including explanations, summaries, interpretations, and dramatic works, would be entitled to copyright protection as original works.
This decision came in response to a suit filed by The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, India, seeking to prevent copyright infringement and related relief.
Also Read: The Copyright Act – Ownership and Infringement – Law Insider India
Justice Prathiba M. Singh, presiding over a single bench, observed, “There can be no doubt that the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita is one of the most revered ancient scriptures in the world. The Bhagavad Gita, along with other scriptures like Bhagavatam, which are written about by the Author, are all ‘public domain’ works. There can be no copyright claimed in the Scriptures. However, any adaptations of the said work, including providing explanations, summaries, meanings, exegesis/interpretations, or creating any audio-visual works (e.g., television series like Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana or B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharata), dramatic works created by drama societies based on scriptures, etc., being transformative works, would be entitled to copyright protection – being original works of the Authors themselves.”
The court emphasized that while the actual reproduction of texts from scriptures is not objectionable, the interpretation provided by different gurus and spiritual teachers can vary. Copyright would then apply to the original parts of literary works that explain or teach the scriptures.
In this case, The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, India, filed the suit as a trust established by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, known as ‘Srila Prabhupada.’ Srila Prabhupada was a renowned scholar, philosopher, and religious leader, credited with the establishment of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
He spread the teachings of various Hindu scriptures, including the Shri Bhagavad Gita, in multiple languages.
The trust alleged that several websites, including the defendants in the case, were making the trust’s copyrighted works available on their platforms without permission. These works included lectures, books, and writings by Srila Prabhupada in multiple languages.
The court found that the defendants had reproduced the plaintiff’s works in their entirety, including translations, summaries, introductions, prefaces, and covers.
The court deemed this as piracy of the plaintiff’s copyrighted works and issued an ex parte interim injunction to prevent further infringement.
The case is scheduled to be heard again on March 12, 2024.
Case Title: The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, India v. https://bhagavatam.in/#gsc.tab=0 & Ors.
