Lecturer Hinidum Sunil Senevi lost a court case brought by translator Padma Edirisinghe over a book that drew on her work, and had to withdraw his copies from the market, according to an account supplied to Colombo Tribune.
The dispute began with a two-minute programme on Hiru FM about twenty years ago. It was broadcast after the news bulletin, in the afternoon slot between 12 noon and 4 pm, under the title “Colombothota Puranaya”.
The announcer introduced it at the start of each episode as being presented by Senevi. The material he read out was taken from “Colombo Puranaya”, the book by Padma Edirisinghe, who is the authorised translator of “Seeing Ceylon”, written by R.L. Brohier.
The account says Senevi was elated to hear his name on the radio. He then took passages from “Colombo Puranaya” and published a book of his own under the title “Colombothota Puranaya” and put it on sale.
Edirisinghe saw the book and went to court. Senevi lost the case and was obliged to take his books back from the shops.
Background
“Seeing Ceylon” is a work by R.L. Brohier, and Edirisinghe’s “Colombo Puranaya” is the Sinhala translation of it that she was authorised to make. The passages Senevi took from that Sinhala text were at the centre of the case.
The account says that in 2006 Senevi published a letter of apology for his mistake in the Sunday newspaper Irudina.
A further letter appeared in the weekend newspaper Sathi Agha Aruna on 15 November 2020. According to the account, it recorded that Senevi had been found guilty of the charge made against him.
What it means
For writers, broadcasters and publishers, the case shows the risk of building a new book on passages taken from another author’s translated work. In this case, the books had to come off the shelves.
For readers who bought the book, the account does not say how many copies were sold or what happened to them after they were withdrawn. Colombo Tribune has not been able to confirm the name of the court or the date of the ruling.
