A copyright is a collection of rights that automatically vest to someone who creates an original work of authorship – like a literary work, song, movie or software. These rights include the right to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies, and to perform and display the work publicly.
Until recent years publishers in Kerala were not bothered much about the copyrights and used to publish international titles in Malayalam according to their will and wish. Due to surge in communication field and the introduction of internet, things started changing. It has become easier to trace the publications by the copyright holder to identify the infringement.
According to the Berne Convention the copyright is valid for the life plus 70 years of the author. Soviet Union was not a part of this convention. After the October revolution, Russia was following different types of laws and one noteworthy exception in Russian copyright law was the “freedom of translation”—any work could be freely translated into another language. During this period many Russian books were translated and published in Malayalam. Since 2004, Russia is also following the European laws like author life plus 70 years. This means a book can be freely published after 70 years of the author’s death. In India it is 60 years after author’s death. There are some variations in certain countries. Two or three countries in the world do not have any copyright law.
World’s largest copyright exchange of books is taking place in Frankfurt Book Fair. In the recent past Sharjah Book Authority is also providing a platform in this regard. During Frankfurt Book Fair the European publishers were complaining that some publishers in Kerala are not strictly following copyright laws. In Kerala even Universities are not strict about this. Copyright is generally given to certain period like five years. Some publishers take copyright initially and continue to publish without renewing the same after the agreement period claiming that they have the rights to publish.
Green Books is committed to follow the copyright which is evident from the international book itinerary we have. Apart from the literature, without translation we should have been deprived about the scientific and other developments around the world.
Subhash P 
Director Rights
