Madras High Court says Tamil Nadu libraries cannot procure AI-generated books

The Madras High Court has ruled that AI-generated and plagiarised works fall within the category of books of “doubtful taste” that Tamil Nadu’s public libraries must not procure, and ordered the registration of an FIR over alleged fraudulent book purchases.

A division bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and M.D. Sumathi issued the directions on Nov. 10 in a contempt petition alleging that an earlier court order on library procurement had been ignored. The court also told librarians to identify and catalogue suspect titles and remove them from public access.

As we reported on Nov. 6, the state had already ordered an inquiry after writer Perumal Murugan raised concerns over allegedly inaccurate and possibly AI-generated books at Coimbatore’s Periyar Arivulagam.

The court grounded its latest ruling in Rule 18(4) of the Tamil Nadu Public Libraries Rules, 1950, which requires library purchases to meet standards of general interest and cultural value. It gave an expansive reading to the rule’s reference to material of doubtful taste, encompassing dubious content and false narratives as well as AI-generated and plagiarised books.

Selection committees must assess non-fiction titles and books by first-time authors before purchase, the bench said. Unless they are satisfied that a work is suitable, it must not be bought. The judgment stressed that library users are entitled to assume information in a book is authentic.

The dispute stems from a 2019 writ petition by S. Krishnan over books allegedly procured under changed titles and author names. In comprehensive directions issued in June 2024, the court had highlighted the republication of nationalised and out-of-copyright works with altered covers, titles and purported authorship.

One example cited was the 2013 book “Veeram Vilaintha Varalatru Puthinangal Part-I”, which the court said copied Kalki’s “Sivakamiyin Sabatham”. It also referred to works by Thiru Vi Ka, A. Sa. Gnana Sambanthan and Na. Parthasarathy that had been republished as recent titles.

Where copyright is nationalised, the state becomes its custodian and must protect the creator’s moral right to be identified, the court said. Buying books falsely attributed to people who did not write them would breach that duty.

The 2024 directions had required the Director of Public Libraries to operate a functional procurement website, publish shortlisted titles and their covers on a separate page, and allow one month for public comments and objections. Those comments were to remain online. The court said adherence to those measures could have prevented purchases from publishers it described as dubious, including Agal Vilakku, Sigma and Phoenix.

Separately, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption has begun a detailed enquiry into alleged procurement irregularities. Its officials inspected records at Anna Centenary Library in Chennai and Periyar Arivulagam, examining the selection process, prices, payments, publishers and possible misuse of public funds.

The probe follows a complaint by School Education Minister A. Rajmohan, who alleged that thousands of substandard books with AI-generated content, fabricated author details and factual errors had been bought at inflated prices. About 2,000 books published by Agal Vilakku Publications were removed from Periyar Arivulagam after concerns arose, according to DT Next.

The allegations have also become politically contested. The DMK has rejected them, demanded the release of official purchase records and accused the TVK-led government of constructing a political narrative. DVAC said it would fix responsibility based on its findings and formally register a case after obtaining state government approval.