Mahatma Gandhi’s Work Now Available For All

Via livemint.com

As 2008 ends, it will take away an era with it.

All copyright on the works of Mahatma Gandhi will end on 1 January. That effectively means any publisher can publish Gandhi’s works—running into some 200,000 pages—without seeking permission of or paying royalty to the Navajivan Trust, the sole custodian of Gandhi’s writings and speeches.

According to section 22 of the Copyright Act, 1957, works of a person go into the public domain 60 calendar years after his or her death.

“Gandhiji himself never wanted copyright law, but later accepted it following some misrepresentations of his writings,” recalled Amrut Modi, managing trustee of the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust.

Unfazed by the expiration of copyright, managing trustee Jitendra Desai reasons: “Even in profiteering, they would propagate Gandhian thought.”