Thanks to Internet search engines, it is a matter of split seconds to ‘search’ something on the Internet. While a few international publications do function on the ‘paid for subscription’ models for people to read online; most websites and newspaper web portals are open to public and in the process, are ‘poached’ for cut paste version in other Internet forums. Reproducing articles, opinion pieces, photographs and often without giving due credit or taking permission happens on a regular basis partly because of the lack of stringent internet copyright laws in the country and because the aggrieved party often tends to let it go. The other mode of exploiting written materials available on the Internet is plagiarism where certain bits and pieces of Internet published pieces are dressed up as new work. This has happened at the national media and was not publicly discussed till a popular weekly magazine ended up doing an editorial on the popular actor Rajnikanth which it turned out was a word for word reproduction of a blog.
In Manipur too, most newspapers have their own websites but along with these, there are other wider Internet forums, which are closely followed by the Manipuri Diaspora. They put news content from the major newspapers in the state on to their own websites without any payment models entering into the picture but do have the courtesy of seeking permission for carrying content. Newspapers in the state also tend to carry national, regional and even state news that are downloaded from the internet, which can get dicey in case copyright cases gets slapped on for not giving credit. Under Indian law, copyright as a form of intellectual property protection is granted to the creators of original works of authorship such as literary works including computer programs, dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematographic films and sound recordings under Section 13 of the Copyright Act 1957. But the law can give protection only when it is used. The rights of the owner of copyright through Section 14 of the Act include the right of adaptation, right of reproduction, right of publication, right to make translations, communication to public etc. A careful assessment of materials put up on the local newspaper websites by tracking it online will easily help in identifying which outlets are lifting information and content without permission and must be followed up with strong responses.
As with other news websites in the state, a lot of IFP contents are available on Manipur based web sites and various other Internet forums. A few put our contents on their web pages with proper credit including the names of the journalists who have written the pieces while some others carry only a few lines and then direct internet traffic to IFP’s main web site. The later is the decent way to do things but not necessarily what the majority follows. And while the Internet gives a wide ambit for materials and content to be used without permission, it also means that the medium in itself helps track of where it has ended up being used. A few of IFP’s contents was found to have been used in other media forums with a mere ‘Source: IFP’ at the footer space. This when there had been no earlier process of seeking approval, for using our content. The website using our content was an online magazine catering to a wide audience and pegged as ‘representation of the North East region’. Their only fault but a major one, was taking the efforts taken by our reporters and photographers on the ground and passing off their hard work as their own. A strong word of caution has already led to an acknowledgement of their ‘mistake and oversight’ and while IFP has no issues with a fair use of content, where source is acknowledged hopefully it will be the end of websites passing off our content as their own by cleverly doing away with credit.