Copyright Concerns: Can We Base Our Training on a Book Without Legal Issues?

Is there any copyright issue if we conduct a training program based on a book or a program registered as someone's signature program? If we do not use their materials, presentations, or videos and clearly state that our program is based on a specific book.

Dear Shailesh, Why are you able to conduct a training program on a certain book? You can do it because it contains valuable content. When this content is disseminated in an organized manner, it will benefit a section of society. However, if you are earning money while disseminating the content, then this dissemination becomes purely commercial.

Authors write books to provide knowledge and information for students and professionals. Both can study the book to enhance their knowledge. It is one thing to gain pecuniary benefits by implementing this knowledge, and another to directly disseminate the content to earn money, which would be a violation of copyrights.

Writing a book is not easy. Authors invest their time and money in conducting research to write a book. While they do earn money when each unit is sold, their passion for research or uncovering the hidden truths of nature is separate. Let us respect their passion.

Copyright Laws in India vs. Western Countries

Copyright laws are not as strict in India as in Western countries. For plagiarism or piracy, the punishment is more severe in Western countries. I recommend obtaining official permission to conduct a program. If you know of an agency that conducts training programs on this book, it would be better to obtain official permission by paying the requisite fee.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Shailesh, Dinesh Divekar has given you sound advice with reasons explained. As a university lecturer, I have used material from various authors and training resources. No doubt, I earned money doing my profession. When in doubt, it's always prudent to write to the author or the publisher and seek their permission, explaining how you use their material. For example, I wrote a few chapters for the book "Managing Total Quality" written by Dr. Hubert Rampersad. For that, I borrowed quite a bit of graphs and displays from various sources. I wrote to the publishers, and they granted permission without any problem.

As you are declaring the source, you are not committing plagiarism; you are really giving free advertisement. Hence, as Dinesh Divekar has suggested, please get their permission to avoid committing copyright violation.

Thank you very much for the valuable advice, Dinesh. The presentation is based on a book, but the content and name are not the same; the content has been changed. It's a "Learn and Share" initiative, kind of a thing. It's internal to the organization and not for earning commercial benefits.

Dear Shailesh,

There is no need to seek permission from the author or publisher as it is for internal organizational use.