Dear Sir/Madam. There is an interesting article by Lawrence Liang of Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore on Oxford and Cambridge University Publishers move to sue the Delhi University for bulk photocopying of books published by Oxford and Cambridge University Press which are prescribed as course materials at the Delhi University. This is high time for UGC to intervene and ask these publishers to allow photocopying of books for academic purposes. Otherwise, as Lawrence Liang puts it "what is at stake is not just the future of a single photocopying shop but the future of access to educational materials in India". If these publishers not allow for photocopying of text books for academic purposes, INFLIBNET and other institutions should stop subscribing journals of these publishers. Excerpt of the article (copied from http://kafila.org) Oxford and Cambridge University Publishers v. Students of India Accompanying a team conducting a raid against a photocopying shop outside AIIMS a few years ago a copyright lawyer had a moment of revelation akin to the apocryphal story of St Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus when Paul was asked by God “Why do you persecute me?”. In this case even as the photocopier was being arrested he defiantly turned to the lawyer and said “If I don’t sell these photocopies where do you think your doctors are going to come from? The lawyer in question is now a leading expert on copyright and public interest and one wonders whether a similar question posed to the lawyers representing Oxford and Cambridge University Press would evoke a similar change of heart especially if they considered their own route to becoming lawyers. The fact of the matter is that in most academic disciplines textbooks are extremely expensive and unaffordable for the average student and if one attempted to buy all the books which are prescribed for a course it would mean that only very few privileged students would afford an education in India. Full text of the article can be accessed at: http://kafila.org/2012/08/27/oxford-and-cambridge-university-publishers-v-st... ------------------------- With best wishes Vasantha Raju N -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.