Why in news
The Tamil Nadu government has nationalised the entire literary output of former Chief Minister and Tamil scholar M. Karunanidhi, making his works available in the public domain.
This means Karunanidhi’s works are no longer under copyright, allowing anyone to publish or translate his works in any form without restriction.
The Nationalisation of Literary Works implies that anyone copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without permission
Issues and Complications Arising from Nationalisation:
The Tamil publishing industry, being a cottage enterprise, often has limited knowledge of copyright laws, leading to complications when the government nationalises works.
Questions arise about who holds the moral rights of nationalised authors, and inconsistencies in compensation (‘solatium’) have created a sense of patronisation.
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