Queer Ink Copyright Statement

Updated: 15 November 2025

Queer Ink’s copyright practices are grounded in Indian law and in international standards. They are designed to protect creators, communities, and users while enabling access, research, education, and cultural work across borders. This consolidated statement applies to Queer Ink Publishing, Queer Ink Digital Library and Queer India Archives, and to all users engaging with these services in India and other countries.

Legal framework and ownership

• Queer Ink content (including books, archives, recordings, ephemera, metadata and descriptions) is protected by the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 (as amended), and by relevant rules and amendments.

• Copyright and related rights may also exist under the laws of other countries and international treaties, such as the Berne Convention and WIPO treaties, where applicable.

• Authors, artists, performers, communities, depositors and publishers remain the first owners of copyright in their works unless rights are transferred or licensed in writing in accordance with law.

• Queer Ink may hold rights as publisher, producer, repository or licensee, but this does not limit the moral rights of creators to be identified with their works and to object to derogatory treatment.

India-specific rights and user responsibilities

• In India, copyright generally protects literary, artistic, musical, dramatic, film, and sound recording works for specified terms (for example, 60 years after the author's death for most literary works), subject to statutory changes.

• Indian law recognises “fair dealing” and specific exceptions for research, private study, review, reporting current events, specific educational uses, libraries, judicial proceedings and some public performances, with detailed conditions.

• Users in India are responsible for ensuring that their copying, sharing, screening, performance, digitisation or other uses fall within Indian exceptions or are covered by an appropriate licence or written permission.

• Institutional users (such as universities, libraries, galleries, and NGOs) must ensure that course packs, repositories, screenings, events, digitisation projects, and online platforms comply with Indian copyright laws and relevant licenses.

International scope and non-India users

• People and institutions in many countries access and use Queer Ink content. It may be protected in those jurisdictions under local copyrights, related rights, database rights, privacy laws, and cultural heritage laws.

• Users outside India are responsible for complying with the copyright, data protection, and related laws of their own jurisdiction, including local rules on private copying, educational use, quotations, parodies, library exceptions, and orphan works.

• Terms like “fair use”, “fair dealing”, educational exceptions, library/archival exceptions, and moral rights can mean different things in different countries; permissions and licences obtained in India might not apply to use in other countries, and the same goes for permissions 

• Queer Ink may, where lawful and appropriate, offer cross-border access to digital collections, exhibitions, and streaming for research, education, and community use via secure platforms and agreements with institutions outside India.

Access, preservation, and cross-border collaboration

• Queer Ink Library and Queer India Archives preserve, describe, and provide access to queer and trans materials, including rare, fragile, and born-digital works, for research, education, and community memory, subject to legal and ethical constraints.

• Queer Ink may collaborate with libraries, archives, museums, universities, festivals, and community organisations in India and other countries for digitisation, preservation, cataloguing, exhibitions, programming, and research access.

• These collaborations usually need written agreements that outline rights, licenses, access rules, crediting, data protection, respect for Indigenous data rights or community guidelines, and restrictions on sharing or reusing the material (like online publishing and AI training).

• Permitted uses, exceptions and limitations

• Specific limited uses of Queer Ink content may be permitted without specific permission where they fall within applicable statutory exceptions (for example, fair dealing for research or private study in India, or closely equivalent provisions elsewhere).

• Short quotations, thumbnail images, low-resolution screenshots, or brief clips may be permissible in some contexts, such as criticism, reviews, or news reports. Still, the scope and conditions differ across legal systems.

• Many institutional activities—such as making digital surrogates available online, streaming films, mass photocopying, large-scale classroom distribution, translation, adaptation, and inclusion in commercial platforms or anthologies—will generally require licenses or written permissions.

• Users should seek local legal advice where necessary, as Queer Ink cannot interpret or guarantee compliance with foreign law or give legal advice.

Reuse, licensing and permissions

• Any reproduction, distribution, public performance, communication with the public, translation, adaptation, digitisation, exhibition, or other reuse of Queer Ink content that goes beyond clearly applicable statutory exceptions requires appropriate permission or licensing.

• Requests might include, for example:

•  reprinting or translating books or chapters;

• using archival materials in documentaries, podcasts, online exhibitions or theatre;

• reproducing images or documents in academic theses, articles or books beyond short quotation;

• streaming films, audio or performances at festivals or on platforms;

• including Queer Ink content in course packs, digital repositories or MOOCs;

• using substantial quantities of metadata or finding aids in other systems.

• Institutional partners must negotiate agreements with Queer Ink (and, where relevant, with creators and communities) before using content in repositories, course platforms, streaming services, exhibitions, anthologies, or AI and data-mining projects.

• Some materials may be shared under specific open licences (such as Creative Commons) or community licences; where this is the case, the terms of those licences must be followed carefully.

Indigenous, community and sensitive materials

• Specific holdings, including those from queer, transgender, Dalit, Adivasi, minority, and other marginalised communities, may embody sacred, traditional, communal, oral, or otherwise sensitive knowledge and may not be fully covered or appropriately protected by copyright law alone.

• For such materials, Queer Ink may apply ethical, community-led, or Indigenous data sovereignty protocols in addition to legal requirements, which may restrict or condition access, copying, exhibition, digitisation, publication, and reuse domestically and internationally.

• Users and institutional partners are expected to honour these ethical conditions, even where local law might allow broader reuse and to prioritise community safety and consent over purely legal minima.

Moral rights, attribution and integrity

• Authors and performers retain moral rights to be identified as the creators of their works and performances and to object to any distortion, mutilation, or other treatment that harms their honour or reputation in India and other jurisdictions.

• All uses of Queer Ink content must provide clear and accurate attribution, including creator names (where known), work titles, dates, source citations (e.g., “Queer Ink Publishing”, “Queer Ink Digital Library” or “Queer India Archives”), and any required acknowledgements of funders or communities.

• Users must not present altered, decontextualised or reedited material in ways that misrepresent creators or communities, facilitate harassment or doxxing, or otherwise endanger queer and trans lives.

Data, text and data mining, and AI use

• Queer Ink does not grant any implied license for text and data mining (TDM), scraping, bulk downloading, or automated harvesting of its content, including websites, catalogues, metadata, annotations, finding aids, or curated descriptions for any purpose. 

• This restriction applies to both commercial and non-commercial entities, including academic projects and AI developers, whether based in India or elsewhere.

• Any proposed use of Queer Ink content or metadata in machine learning, AI training sets, large-scale analytic tools, recommendation systems, or similar technologies requires prior written authorisation from Queer Ink and, where applicable, from specific creators or communities.

• Authorisation for AI or TDM-related uses may be subject to additional safeguards, including technical limits, ethical review, community consent, restrictions on reidentification, and prohibitions on sensitive inferences or commercial exploitation.

Archives, libraries and educational use

• Queer Ink Digital Library and Queer India Archives support research and education by enabling remote access to materials, subject to access protocols and licence conditions.

• Libraries, archives, and educational institutions may, in some circumstances, rely on statutory exceptions for preservation, interlibrary loans, classroom use, or copies for people with disabilities. Still, these exceptions are jurisdiction-specific and often narrow.

• Institutions should not assume that scanning, uploading or providing remote access to digital copies of Queer Ink content (including through internal networks or password-protected systems) is automatically permitted; such uses commonly require licences or written agreements.

• Queer Ink encourages educators and researchers to design assignments, syllabi, and projects that respect copyrights, moral rights, and community protocols while amplifying queer and trans voices.

Respect for copyright and intellectual property

• Queer Ink respects the intellectual property of others and expects all users and partners to do the same, including by avoiding the unauthorised reproduction, distribution, adaptation, performance, streaming, or posting of copyrighted material.

• Queer Ink will not provide or endorse copies of third-party copyrighted works (including books, films, music and images) that would infringe the rights of authors, publishers, producers or other rightsholders.

• Where users seek to quote or reproduce copyrighted material, Queer Ink will encourage reliance on short, necessary quotations, paraphrases, and original commentary rather than extended reproductions, in line with its commitment to respecting intellectual property.

• Nothing in this statement permits users to reproduce any copyrighted content in ways that conflict with applicable law or existing licences.

No legal advice; interpretation and contact

• This statement is an informational guide to Queer Ink’s copyright approach and does not constitute legal advice or a comprehensive statement of the law in any jurisdiction.

• Users, creators, and institutional partners remain responsible for seeking independent legal advice where necessary and ensuring their activities comply with all applicable laws in India and abroad.

• Queer Ink reserves the right to revise this copyright statement as laws evolve or as community expectations, ethical standards and technological practices change.

• For permissions, licensing requests, queries about specific uses, or clarification of this statement, users should contact Queer Ink directly at info@queer-ink.com or message on +91.8850.678.780.