Jahanvi Agarwal
In a copyright infringement case brought by a law student against two professors at Lloyd Law College for allegedly publishing her study under their names, a Bangalore court has issued an interim injunction.
The two professors and the editor of the Journal of Survey in Fisheries Sciences, both of Ottawa, Canada, are among the defendants who have received summons from the court.
The complainant is a second-year law student at Bangalore’s CMR University School of Legal Studies. She delivered her research paper on “The Challenges of Providing Humanitarian Assistance in Non-Permissive Environments” at a conference earlier this year that was hosted by Lloyd Law College in Noida.
She was surprised to find out in May that her research paper had been published in a Canadian journal with the same name under the names of the two professors who were defendants and had also attended the conference.
She then issued a legal notice requesting an “unconditional apology” from them as well as an acknowledgment that the paper is solely hers. She also got in touch with the Journal to get the copied material removed. She initiated the current suit after both went ignored.
According to Section 2(o) of the Copyright Act of 1957, which grants her exclusive ownership of the material, she has claimed that her piece qualifies as a “literary work” under this section. Further, it has been argued that by publishing the same under their names, the two professors have violated Section 57 of the Copyright Act of 1957 by violating her rights. She alleged that the act was illegal under Section 65 of the Copyright Act of 1957.
She sought an injunction as well as Rs. 1 lakh in costs and damages from the accused. On the understanding that she will pay the defendants’ real costs if the suit is unsuccessful, the court has issued an interim injunction.
Case Name: Aathira Mannath A v. Lloyd Law College
Diary Number: 4789/2023