Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.
To marks the centenary of the birth of the former Chief Minister and Muthamil Arignar (Tamil scholar) M. Karunanidhi, Tamil Nadu government has nationalized all literary works. Nationalization is a practice of literary paternalism unique to Tamil Nadu. This means that Karunanidhi’s work will no longer be under the copyright regime. They will be in the public domain, and anyone can publish or translate their work in any form. Literary works are governed by copyright law. Copyright is a property right owned by the author, and after his death, it passes to the rightful heirs for 60 calendar years.
A unique practice
For most parts of the world, this is a novel – even unheard of – state intervention. But in Tamil Nadu, this practice is 75 years old. As is often the case in Tamil culture, this innovation also started with the great poet, Subramania Bharati. After his death in poverty, his widow Chellamma Bharati organized a sale of the copyright. Eventually, the broadcast rights were passed on to AV Meyappa Chettiar. If the work of a literary icon is now the private property of a paid filmmaker, it causes an uproar. After that, the then government of Madras, in 1949, acquired the copyright of Bharati and later released it for public use without restrictions. More than being an executive legal intervention to resolve copyright issues, this is actually a unique honor bestowed upon Bharati. This is a distinction that MK Gandhi, BR Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, or Rabindranath Tagore did not have.
In the 1980s, similar copyright issues were encountered in relation to Bharati’s main follower, Bharathidasan. On his return to power in 1989-91, Karunanidhi nationalized Bharathidasan’s work. But few would have imagined that this would lead to political one-upmanship. In 1994, when her Dravidian credentials came under attack, the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, nationalized the writings of DMK founder CN Annadurai. In a glittering function, ₹75 lakh was handed over to his wife Rani Annadurai as compensation.
The floodgates are now open. A stream of writers is exempt from copyright. The works of 179 authors have been nationalized by the government so far. Nearly ₹15 crore of public money has been poured in for the legal beneficiaries. What was initially thought of as a tribute to an extraordinary cultural figure has now been emptied entirely. Today, even the most knowledgeable literary historians may struggle to identify many of these 179 authors.
This practice also has worse implications. Since the Tamil publishing industry is more or less a cottage industry, knowledge of copyright issues is at best. In the spirit of acting as a patron of the arts, successive governments have not paid attention to the same variety of issues. For example, who are the moral rights of nationalized authors? In acquiring copyright, the government always compensates the legal heirs, that is the family, rather than the legal owner of the work. Publishers who acquire rights through legal process are often defeated. In some cases, the government nationalized authors, such as the first Tamil novelist, S. Vedanayakam Pillai, and the Tamil scholar, VG Suryanarayana Sastri, decades after copyright had been invalidated. To add to the confusion, the works of authors such as Rajam Krishnan were added to the list during his lifetime. This presents a strange legal conundrum: can copyright be granted even before the composition of the work?
In addition, there is no consistency in awarding monetary compensation. Called ‘solatium’, it has a strong patronizing aroma. Nowadays, every time a writer dies, there is an uproar to nationalize his work. Families lined up at St George’s Fort, the seat of authority, waiting in line. Private interests often try to influence government decisions. At least in three cases – Kannadasan, Mu. Varadarajan and Sundara Ramaswamy – the government announced the nationalization without obtaining prior consent from the families and had to reverse the decision after objections.
Effects on the publishing industry
No doubt, nationalization has democratized literature and helped original scientific work. But the harmful effects far outweigh the benefits. A huge pile of Ponniyin Selvan Kalki at a book fair does not make for a good sight. Predatory publishers have exploited the situation without any moral qualms. He has preyed on a huge volume of books released from copyright and waste them to the state-funded public library through unscrupulous methods. The works of well-known and even classic authors have been looted, titles defaced, and authors changed. The situation has reached such alarming proportions that the Madras High Court has ordered an inquiry. Many issues have been thrown out by the well-intentioned government’s move to seek a speedy resolution.
In the nationalization of Karunanidhi’s work, the process that started with Bharati has reached its climax. MK Stalin has done his duty twice: as Chief Minister, he has put the works of famous authors into the public domain; and as a son, he has waived compensation for copyright. From Bharati to Karunanidhi, the story of Tamil Nadu government’s interference in literary copyright ends. Now is the time to declare a moratorium on the nationalization of literary works. Another way to encourage literature and encourage poor writers can be easily created.
AR Venkatachalapathy is the author of Who Owns Which Song?: Subramania Bharati’s Copyright Battle
