Copyright Law And Academic Freedom: A Legal Balancing Act
- IJLLR Journal
- Dec 23, 2025
- 2 min read
Sunil Sudhakar Varnekar, Research Scholar, Alliance, School of Law, Alliance University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Dr. Upankar Chutia, Associate Professor, Department of Law, Alliance School of Law, Alliance University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
ABSTRACT
The copyright law and academic freedom are an intermingling dilemma both in a legal and ethical sense, especially in countries such as India which recognize a doctrine of fair dealing as the basis of the exception to the copyright protection. This research paper discusses critically the scope, limitations and the implications of the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright Act of 1957 of India in light of the application of the provisions to teaching materials, research publications, and digital educational content. Comparing to the more flexible doctrine of fair use that is adhered to in such countries as the United States, the enumerated principles of fair dealing in India allow only scant interpretive deviation, which can result in legal ambiguity in relation to educators and researchers. The paper examines the top judicial precedents such as the landmark DU Photocopy Case, and pinpoints the loopholes in existing legal protections available to the academic community especially in the new digital learning environment setting and then institutional repositories. It also examines the extent to which other legal doctrines including moral rights, statutory licenses and institutional authorship opposes the academic practices in India. The analysis that involves doctrinal and comparative studies indicates that the existing framework is insufficient to meet new demands of education in the digital world. The paper suggests certain amendments to the Indian copyright act based on the finding, which includes adding fair dealing grounds, application of fair use principle-based standard, and provision of better fair guidelines on use of digital academic works, and acknowledging academic moral rights. Such reforms are necessary to find the equilibrium between the rights of the copyright holder and the necessity of access to knowledge and, protect the academic freedom and guarantee the fulfilment of the international obligations. In the end, this paper reinforces the importance of education friendly, well balanced copyright regime that captures the dynamics of such contemporary scholarship such as teaching and communication.
Keywords: Copyrights law, Teaching materials, Publications, Digital materials, Academic freedom.
