NCERT Issues Warning Against Publishers Over Copyright Infringement of Textbook Content

Advisory body to the Government of India in the field of school education, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has issued an official advisory for the copyright infringement of its study materials. The body alleged that “a few unscrupulous publishers are publishing the NCERT textbooks with their name on it without seeking any official permission from them.”

As per the official press release, any person or organisation that publishes NCERT textbooks in whole or in parts for commercial sale, or even uses the textbook content without obtaining copyright permission from the council shall proceed in accordance with the Copyright Act 1957.

In the press release, NCERT also requested the public to stay away from such textbooks as the content written on them might be factually incorrect and against the basic philosophy of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2023.

It also urged the users to inform NCERT as soon as possible if they come across a pirated copy of textbooks on the official E-Mail ID: [email protected].

NCERT, in a release, also stated that they are responsible for creating and distributing textbooks for all school levels, and has long been known as a trusted source of educational teaching and learning resources.

In order to use the council’s name in their publication, any publisher must submit a proposal to the NCERT Publication Department at the council’s headquarters at Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 16, or via E-Mail at [email protected].

NCERT will be releasing textbooks for Classes 3, 4, 5, 9, and 11 in April, and as for Class 6, the books will be available in May.

For Class 3 and Class 5, NCERT intends to release the books under the new syllabus as Class 3 marks the beginning of preparation and Class 6 marks the start of the middle stage and they also need to be updated to align with the New Curriculum Framework for 2023.

Recently, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) instructed all the affiliated schools to follow the new syllabus for Class 6 and Class 7 from the 2024-25 academic year.