Veteran Kannada novelist S L Bhyrappa.
Credit: DH Photo
Novelist S L Bhyrappa, who died on Wednesday, won a legal battle over copyright on his novel in 2023 against a Hyderabad-based publisher. The publisher was penalised for translating Bhyrappa’s novel ‘Vamshavruksha,’ without permission.
The Mysuru District and Sessions Court imposed a fine of Rs 5.05 lakh on Vathsala of Priyadarshini Prachurunalu for publishing the Telugu translation of Kannada novel ‘Vamshavruksha’ of Bhyrappa, without availing permission, in an order issued on December 21, 2023, for violation of the Copyright Act.
The rights for translation of ‘Vamshavruksha’ in Telugu was given to Sanagaram Nagabushanam and it was published as ‘Vamshavruksham’ earlier. Since the death of Nagabushanam, a few years ago, the Telugu rights were not given to anybody else. Advocate O Sham Bhat had represented Bhyrappa.
A close associate of Bhyrappa said the writer, who faced hardships during his childhood and in his student life, was more concerned about youth.
“He used to fund the education of numerous students, so that they can chart their future well. However, he never revealed that he was helping the students. A few youth used to narrate how Bhyrappa helped them to complete their education,” he said.
S L Bhyrappa Sahitya Pratisthana has been presenting awards to notable writers for a few years now.
Politics
Bhyrappa had keen interest in politics. In an interaction with mediapersons on March 29, 2024, just a couple of months before the Lok Sabha elections, Bhyrappa had said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will definitely become PM again, but the BJP would manage to win just half the number of seats in the Lok Sabha poll in Karnataka, as the Congress is strong here”. Incidentally, the performance of the BJP was not so good as in the 2019 elections.
The Karnataka government took up the construction of ‘S L Bhyrappa Art and Culture Development Centre’ at his native Santheshivara in March 2023.
The government allotted Rs 5 crore for the development of Bhyrappa’s birth place Santheshivara in 2020-21. Later, it was decided to build a study centre at a cost of Rs 5 crore, as per the wishes of Bhyrappa’s family
members.
The building, ground plus two floors, is coming up on a 120X90 feet site. Most of the land is given by the writer, while a small portion of it is donated by Gangegowda from the same village.