Najma Heptulla v. Orient Longman Ltd. & Ors.

Relevant Acts and provisions

Copyright Act, 1957

Section 2(z)

Provisions considered: Section 2(z) of the Copyright Act, 1957, on the meaning and consequences of a work of joint authorship.

Brief facts

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad narrated the account of his political life to Professor Humayun Kabir, who transcribed, translated and gave literary shape to the narration in English, with a portion to remain confidential for thirty years under Azad's direction. After Azad's death, Kabir arranged with the publisher to publish the complete text, including the restricted pages, once the embargo period lapsed. Azad's legal heir sued to restrain publication of the restricted portion, asserting that Azad alone was the author and that Kabir's consent to publish it was legally ineffective.

Issues before the Court

1. Was Maulana Azad the sole author of the work, or were Azad and Professor Kabir joint authors within the meaning of Section 2(z)?
2. If Kabir was a joint author, was his consent, without that of Azad's other legal heirs, sufficient to authorise publication?

Court's findings

The Court held that authorship of a literary work is not confined to the person who originates the underlying ideas or narrates them, but extends to a person whose independent intellectual and literary skill and effort go into giving the narrative its final written form and language, where the two contributions are not distinguishable as separate parts of the work.

The Court found that Azad supplied the substance and ideas while Kabir gave the work its literary form and language in English, and that both contributions were blended into a single, unitary work rather than being separable, so that the work fell within the definition of a work of joint authorship under Section 2(z).

The Court held that where a work has joint authors, each joint author is a co-owner of the copyright and, subject to any agreement between them, is capable of granting a valid licence to publish the joint work, so that the arrangement with the publisher could not be treated as void merely because Azad's heirs had not separately consented.

Decision

Suit for injunction dismissed; publication of the complete text, including the restricted pages, was permitted to proceed.

Keywords

Assignment And Licensing Copyright Ownership Joint Authorship Literary Work Originality