“Mathematical questions are an expression of laws of nature. The discovery of such laws cannot confer a monopoly to those who describe it,” the Court remarked.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court recently declared that mathematical equations and science subjects, being matters of fact and laws of nature, are open for use by any individual without the fear of copyright infringement [Addala Sitamahalakshmi vs State Of Andhra Pradesh].
Justice V Sujatha concluded that academic or non-literary books, even if pirated by a publisher, would be shielded under Section 52 of the Copyright Act. This section specifies that certain acts of fair use do not amount to copyright infringement under the law.
The court emphasized that once a book becomes part of a syllabus, students are free to use the contained questions in any manner. Consequently, guide books assisting students in solving these questions fall under the fair use exception to copyright.
These observations came in response to two petitions filed in 2011 by the proprietor of Deepthi Publications, challenging a 2010 government order that restricted private colleges from publishing Telugu Akademi textbooks. The petitioner, Addala Sitamahalakshmi, also sought the dismissal of a 2011 criminal case for alleged piracy.
In examining the Copyright Act’s provisions, the court affirmed that copyright is a statutory right and does not exist except as provided in the Act. The Act, it noted, applies solely to original literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works.
Considering the petitioner’s publications in mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, and zoology for intermediate, 11th, and 12th-grade students, the court stated that mathematical questions represent expressions of laws of nature, and language’s limited medium allows their use without conferring a monopoly.
The court invoked Section 52 of the Copyright Act, asserting that the petitioner’s books, assumed to be pirated copies, qualify for fair use as an exception defined under this section. Section 13, which identifies only “original” literary, artistic, dramatic, and musical works as copyright subjects, was deemed inapplicable to the non-literary nature of the books in question.
Consequently, the court quashed criminal proceedings against the petitioner, instructing authorities not to interfere with legitimate business operations under the government order pretext. Regarding the challenge against the government order, the court maintained that it primarily targeted colleges and dismissed the petitioner’s plea for setting aside the order unless filed as a public interest litigation detailing potential public injury caused by the directive.
