Context:

• The Delhi High Court has found “large-scale infringement” in the reproduction on of copyrighted works of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
• The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust publishes books and commentaries on Indian religious philosophy and spiritualism, especially classic Vaishnava texts.

Insights into Copyright Law in India: What Delhi High Court Said

• The trust has been allowed to contact tech giants Google and Meta to request the removal of copyrighted content related to the Srimad Bhagavad Gita.

Copyright law in India

• Indian copyright law Copyright Act, 1957 protects “original work” — a creative and independently created expression fixed in a tangible medium. 
• The law grants the creator/ author of the work the exclusive right to “use, reproduce, distribute, perform, and display their work”.
• Unlike the case with patents, copyright protects the expressions and not the ideas. There is no copyright in an idea.
• The law also protects transformative work which is a creative/ artistic work that takes existing material (text, music, art) and significantly modifies, reinterprets, or builds upon it to create something new and distinct. 

Are religious texts protected  under copyright law in India?

• Religious texts, in general, are considered part of the public domain thus, they are not subject to copyright protection in India. 
• However, modern translations of the Bible represent new and creative works developed by the translators. Hence, they are covered by copyright law in India.
• While the Ramayana and Mahabharata are not protected by copyright, the television series Ramayana created by Ramanand Sagar or B R Chopra’s Mahabharata are “transformative works” that are be protected.

News Source: Indian Express