Musings on Books and Copyrights

Musings on Books and Copyrights

Paddaja Roy

Every year, 23^rd April is celebrated worldwide as World Book and Copyright Day.

Besides being celebrated as the birth and death anniversary of William Shakespeare, the date also marks the death anniversary of literary stalwarts such as William Wordsworth, Satyajit Ray and Rupert Brooke.

In contemporary times, books and copyrights go hand in hand. Copyright not only safeguards the author’s work but also rewards the author’s creativity.

Also, copying a writer’s expression without proper permission leads to copyright infringement, popularly known as plagiarism, a very common term in the academia. To avoid plagiarism, acknowledgement of sources is essential. Even the greatest bard of all times, William Shakespeare, was also accused of plagiarism by his contemporaries.

However, the concept of plagiarism bearing such rigidity was not so prevalent prior to and during the Elizabethan era, and writers often took inspiration from other sources, writers and artists across culture and continents.

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This year, the globally celebrated World Book and Copyright Day took on the theme ‘Read Your Way‘. This theme was not simply a catchy phrase, but a powerful message that underscored the crucial role reading plays in our lives.

The theme, ‘Read Your Way‘, was a call to the global community to embrace reading as a personal journey, a way of discovering oneself, and the world around us. It emphasized how reading is not a one-size-fits-all activity, but a unique experience that can be tailored to each individual’s interests, tastes, and pace.

Moreover, the theme highlighted the importance of accessibility in reading. It underscored the need for books and other reading materials to be available in various formats, such as print, digital, and audio, to accommodate different learning styles and preferences. It also stressed the importance of making reading materials available in multiple languages to cater to the global community.

The theme also brought to light the importance of copyright in the world of books. It underscored the value of protecting authors’ intellectual property rights, ensuring that they are fairly compensated for their work, and encouraging more diversity and creativity in the literary world.

In essence, the theme ‘Read Your Way‘ for the World Book and Copyright Day served as a reminder of the power of reading in expanding our knowledge, shaping our perspectives, and enriching our lives. It also highlighted the crucial role of copyright in preserving the integrity of literature and promoting a rich and diverse literary culture.

Again, this year, Hanuman Jayanti, a festival celebrating the birth of the Hindu deity Hanuman, was also celebrated on 23^rd April. Hanuman is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva, and the devoted companion of Rama, the main protagonist of the Ramayana.

But one lesser known fact about him is that Hanuman also happens to be a great scholar and writer. It is said that Hanuman had written his version of the Ramayana, on stone slabs or clay tablets, out of his admiration for Rama, and had completed it before Maharishi Valmiki could.

When sage Valmiki read it, he was elated as well as sorrowful- elated because Hanuman’s Ramayana was a better rendition than that of Valmiki’s, and sorrowful because then no one would read or praise Valmiki’s Ramayana after reading Hanuman’s rendition. When Valmiki expressed this to Hanuman, the latter was saddened as he didn’t want sage Valmiki’s dedication and efforts to go in vain.

So, Hanuman put the stone/clay tablet-book on one side of his shoulder and Sage Valmiki on the other and altogether flew to the middle of the ocean where he broke the tablets and threw them at the depths of the ocean. (Another legend says that Hanuman threw his rendition into the sea for Rama didn’t think himself worthy enough to have someone write about him in such a lofty manner).

Hanuman’s sacrifice, however, was not forgotten and Tulsidas, who was acclaimed to be the reincarnation of sage Valmiki, wrote the Hanuman Chalisa praising the greatness as well as the wisdom of Hanuman.

This anecdote encapsulates two interesting aspects- first the evolution of books from clay tablets or stone slabs to papyrus to print/paper, and in the contemporary era, to e-book and audiobooks, and second, the idea of inspiration and plagiarism. It is said that the Ramayana has as many as three hundred versions.

Hanuman’s Hanumad Ramayana, Maharshi Valmiki’s Ramayana and Tulsidas’ Ramchartimanas– what would people call them, translation, plagiarism or inspiration? The answer lies in Ramanujan’s rejection of the idea of an ‘ur-text’ in his essay, “Three Hundred Ramayanas – Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation” where he posits, ‘No text is original, yet no telling is a mere retelling and the story has no closure, although it may be enclosed in a text’.

Myths, music, folklores, epics, classics and such go beyond the bounds of plagiarism and copyright for they uphold culture, encapsulate beliefs and propagate faith. Time takes the form of our mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers as storytellers to pass the stories from one generation to another.

With time and travelling, translations started storytelling thereby passing wisdom, belief, customs and faith across cultures and continents. It is the contemporary crux of cut-throat competition that has brought in writs of copyright and plagiarism to safeguard intellectual theft and ownership.

But despite everything, stories would keep growing, living, and every year we would be celebrating stories and books for, as our old Bard had said,

“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee”– William Shakespeare.

[Paddaja Roy, Assistant Professor, Ratnapith College, Chapar, Dist: Dhubri, Assam (India); Contact No. (+91) 8474055349]

23-04-2024

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