Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Focus on copyright sale

— Photo: S. Mahinsha

PUBLISHERS’ MEET: The former director of National Book Trust (NBT) Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharya addresses participants at the Copyright Table organised as part of the Thiruvananthapuram Book Fair, in the city on Sunday.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Writer and the former director of National Book Trust Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharya said here on Sunday that publishers should adopt a dual pricing technique to curb unauthorised translation and publishing of costly books.

Speaking after inaugurating ‘Copyright Table,’ organised as part of the Thiruvananthapuram Book Fair, Mr. Bhattacharya said by bringing out cheaper versions of books, publishers could cater to a wider section of readers.

“Besides violating the copyright of the publishers, unauthorised translation and publishing violated the rights of the author. At the same time, it was necessary to maintain a free flow of rights among publishers. For this, it was essential to have greater interaction amongst publishers regarding the buying and selling of copyright and distribution rights,” he said.

Mr. Bhattacharya added that the Copyright Table at the Thiruvananthapuram Book Fair, being organised in association with the Frankfurt Book Fair, was a pioneering attempt by a book fair in India.

More than 20 publishers from across the country are participating in the Copyright Table. The programme also includes a three-day seminar on the topic ‘Copyright sales and international book fairs.’ A wide range of issues and concerns relating to the publishing industry were discussed at the seminar on Sunday.

Ravi D.C., CEO of DC Books, said Indian publishers participating in international book fairs should ensure a more professional approach to successfully trade copyright with foreign publishers. “Often, international publishers hesitated to associate with Indian publishers due to their lack of professionalism in payment of royalties, keeping accounts, etc.,” he said.

Talking about the prospects of Indian regional language publishers in international book fairs, Kannan Sundaram of Kalachchuvadu Publications of Tamil Nadu, said it was often difficult to trade rights of regional language books, unless an English translation of the book was available. “But, unfortunately Indian English publishers were not very keen on translating regional language books to English,” he said.

Director of German Book Office (GBO) Akshay Pathak said the Frankfurt Book Fair had decided to tap the vibrant and multi-lingual publishing market in India in 2006 after India was selected as the country in focus at the Frankfurt Book Fair. “Translation is one of our core activities. There are many young German authors who are not popular in India and whose works could be translated to Indian languages. We have set up a core team of 50 translators for the purpose and have also conducted workshops.” .

Representatives of leading book houses Zubaan, Tulika, Sage, LeftWord and Ekalavya also participated in the seminar. Hindi book publisher Vani Prakash bought the Hindi copyright of 21 books published by the Balasahitya Institute.

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