Click to play videoNew Delhi: Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer has accused leading Hindi publisher Raj Kamal Prakashan of copyright violation.
Gordimer, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1991, says Raj Kamal Prakashan published a paperback Hindi translation of her work without approval.
The 84-year-old writer is planning to take legal recourse over the Hindi translation of her work My Son's Story into Mere Bete ki Kahani.
According to Gordimer's agent Linda Sor, Delhi-based Raj Kamal Prakashan had signed a deal seven years back for the Hindi translation of nine books of Nadine in hardback at a nominal fee of $150 each but delays on the part of the publisher led to the contract being cancelled.
However, Gordimer and Sor was in for a shock when they found out that Raj Kamal had published a paperback version of My Son's Storyin a clear violation of the deal between the two parties.
"Nadine has been appalled of course that any publisher could behave in this way. She feels a protest needs to be made on her behalf but of course on behalf of any author who may have been by any publisher been treated in this way," Linda Sor, Nadine Gordimer's agent, says.
What irked Nadine's team even more was the fact that Raj Kamal Publishers admitted a mistake had been made but was not prepared to pay any damages
"I pointed again that he has behaved in an illegal fashion and that this is an appalling way to treat any author particularly an author like Nadine Gordimer who is a Nobel Prize winning author," Sor adds.
Meanwhile, the publishers deny any wrong doing on their part.
"Kisi prakar ke copyright ka koi ulanghan hamne nahi kiya. Unse agreement hai hamara aur agreemenrt ke tahat hi kitab ka prakashan kiya gaya hai. Puri kitab ki jitni bhi pratiya chapi hai uski royalty unko advance mein dee gayi hain (We have not violated any copyright. The book was published under an agreement and the author has been paid the royalty in advance)," Ashok Maheshwari, owner of Raj Kamal Publication, says.
But the incident exposes the real side of Hindi publishing world. If such a thing can happen to celebrated authors like Nadine, the plight of lesser-known authors can well be imaged.
(With inputs from Akansha Banerjee)
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