2010.08.26 08:01:27

Administrator

A book outlining the ACA2K network's research findings on the relationship between copyright and learning materials access in Africa was launched at this year's Cape Town Book Fair. The launch featured a panel discussion with three members of the ACA2K research network: Dr. Marisella Ouma of Kenya and Pria Chetty and Dr. Tobias Schonwetter of South Africa. The workshop was hosted by the book's publisher, UCT Press, and Dr. Constance Freeman, IDRC's Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, acted as the panel moderator.
Following some general remarks by Freeman, Schonwetter briefly introduced the ACA2K project to the audience. Thereafter, Ouma explained some of the international dynamics of copyright protection, particularly the role of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), and summarised the key findings from the Kenyan ACA2K research activities. Chetty subsequently spoke about some of the most important research findings from South Africa, and Schonwetter concluded the panel discussion by highlighting general trends that emerged from ACA2K's research in all eight African study countries, and offering recommendations as to how some of the most pressing problems could best be addressed.

In his presentation, Schonwetter emphasised, among other things, that Africa does not need stronger copyright laws because copyright laws in all eight study countries already fully comply with international copyright standards and in some instances even exceed these, eg, in as far as the copyright terms in Ghana, Mozambique and Senegal are concerned. At the same time, however, the scope of educational exceptions and limitations generally and for libraries and archives in particular is unclear, especially in the digital environment. Distance education or e-learning is not mentioned in any of the study countries' copyright laws and only Uganda's copyright law makes specific mention of the needs of disabled persons. Schonwetter also stressed that the copyright laws on the books in the study countries are so far removed from the day‐to‐day realities facing education systems in the study countries that enforcement is practically impossible if the existing moderate levels of learning materials access are to be preserved. Copyright-holders must also start to acknowledge that copyright laws that cannot be followed by the majority of society can generate resentment towards the underlying principles and thus undermine the respect for copyright on the whole. Ultimately, stakeholders must work together to bridge the gulf between national copyright laws and prevailing (infringing) practices for accessing learning materials.

After the panel discussion, members of the audience were able to ask questions for about 20 minutes before Khaled Fourati of the IDRC and the Shuttleworth Foundation's Karien Bezuidenhout, in their respective closing remarks, expressed the project funders' delight with what the ACA2K project has achieved.

Posted by:
Dr. Tobias Schonwetter
ACA2K South Africa researcher
University of Cape Town (UCT)

 

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2010.07.06 13:05:50

Chris Armstrong

The African Commons Project (TACP) has launched a petition, in cooperation with South Africa's National Consumer Forum, calling on the South African Department of Trade and Industry (dti) to conduct a "consultative, development-focused Copyright Review."
The South African Copyright Act was promulgated in 1978 and has not been substantially amended since.
The dti has announced plans to review the Act, but the exact timing of the review is unclear.
The TACP/Consumer Forum petition, drafted with inputs from the ACA2K South Africa research team, calls for a wide range of stakeholders to be involved in the review, and for eventual revisions of the Act to reflect South Africa's status as a developing nation -- via provisions that maximise user/consumer access for purposes of education and innovation, including such access by disabled persons.
Those wishing to find out more about the petition should go to the TACP website: http://www.africancommons.org/.

Posted by:
Chris Armstrong
ACA2K Research Manager
LINK Centre, Wits University, Johannesburg

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2010.05.31 08:41:05

Denise Nicholson

The Global Research Report on Africa 2010 provides useful information about research trends in African countries, as well as problems and challenges on the continent.  The Feasibility Study on the AfricaConnect Initiative (Dec 2008-Dec 2009) highlights ICT challenges and opportunities in Africa and implications for African research.

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Copyright; africa; research

2010.05.27 09:13:45

Denise Nicholson

In developed countries barely 5% of all published works are available in formats which are accessible to blind and visually impaired people. In developing countries, this number drops to a mere 0.5%.  So 99.5% of published books are inaccessible to blind and partially sighted South Africans.

The South African Copyright law exacerbates the problem as there are no provisions for persons with disabilities to convert material into accessible formats.

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Copyright; TVI; Blind; Disabled

2010.05.24 09:12:40

Denise Nicholson

On 20 May 2010, the Intellectual Property Amendment Bill, 2010 (Traditional Knowledge) was presented to the Portfolio Committee for Trade and Industry by the Department of Trade and Industry.  Despite objections and recommendations made by many stakeholders through written submissions and at various public hearings around South Africa, the Bill is virtually the same as the original version published for comment in 2008.  Public hearings scheduled for May 2010 have now been postponed until July 2010 (dates unknown at this stage).

Apart from not including any limitations and exceptions for research, education, libraries and persons with sensory-disabilities, it fails to address a number of key issues and queries that stakeholders across the board have raised about the Bill, e.g. vague definitions for traditional knowledge works and indigenous communities, problem clauses, ownership by a National Trust, fixation issues around folklore, and many others.  

The results of the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) commissioned by the Presidency and the Department of Trade and Industry during 2009 have not yet been made public.  For the sake of transparency, and before this Bill proceeds any further, it is incumbent on the Department of Trade and Industry to make the RIA open to the public and to inform the public why their recommendations and objections have been ignored to date.



Denise Nicholson
24 May 2010


This article is the personal view of the author, Denise Rosemary Nicholson ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and does not purport to be the view/opinion of her institution or any other organisation or individual

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traditional knowledge; south africa

2010.03.01 18:17:43

Denise Nicholson

In November 2004, the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Policy was adopted in South Africa. In May 2008, the South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) published the Intellectual Property Amendment Bill in the Government Gazette for public comment. This Bill proposed to include traditional knowledge works as a category of protected work and to amend intellectual property legislation accordingly. This required amendments to be made to the Performers' Act of 1967; the Copyright Act of 1978; the Trade Marks Act of 1993 and the Designs Act of 1993.

Stakeholders across the board, including the tertiary sector, submitted objections and recommendations for changes to be made to the Bill before it was presented to Parliament. The DTI held various public hearings around the country during 2008 and again strong objections were raised and recommendations made by IP lawyers, librarians, academics, musicians, rights organisations and other stakeholders.  In a Mail & Guardian Online article, Dr. Owen Dean of Spoor and Fisher slammed the Bill as an "abomination". Judge Louis Harms was also critical of the Bill. 

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2010.02.01 13:56:46

Marisella Ouma

The Stakeholders’ Workshop on Copyright Law Review in Kenya was held on Thursday January 28 in Nairobi. The main purpose of the workshop was to provide stakeholders with an opportunity to contribute to the law reform process. The workshop was organised by the Kenya Copyright Board. Both Dr. Ben Sihanya and Marisella Ouma of the Kenya ACA2K Research Team participated in the process.

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2010.01.19 08:32:49

Perihan Abou Zeid

In collaboraton with Geneva-based research group IQsensato, two ACA2K network members, Tobias Schonwetter (South Africa) and Perihan Abou Zeid (Egypt), represented ACA2K at the 19^th meeting of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR 19) in Geneva, Switzerland, in December. The ACA2K delegation was able to present selected ACA2K research findings to the Africa Group at WIPO, and the ACA2K team’s presentation was well-received, with several members of the Africa Group expressing interest in being briefed in more detail about ACA2K’s findings at a later stage. Furthermore, ACA2K representatives distributed ACA2K’s third Geneva briefing paper, WIPO Briefing Paper 3, to delegates at WIPO.

Based on the briefing paper, ACA2K’s official statement to WIPO was made on the third day of SCCR’s deliberations. Several delegates commended the ACA2K team on the ground-breaking nature of the research and the country delegations of both Kenya and South Africa expressly referred to ACA2K research in their interventions at SCCR.

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2009.12.17 06:57:56

Denise Nicholson

ACA2K researchers are participating in this week's WIPO SCCR 19th Meeting in Geneva, which runs from 14 to 18 December. 

The ACA2Kers, Perihan Abou Zeid of Egypt and Tobias Schonwetter of South Africa, have launched ACA2K Briefing Paper No. 3. And, in conjunction with research organisation IQsensato (based in Geneva), Schonwetter read a statement to SCCR.

The statement was as follows: "Thank you Mr. Chairman. I speak on behalf of IQsensato, which welcomes the opportunity to speak at this session of the SCCR. IQsensato’s purpose is to provide an international platform for promoting the research and thinking of researchers and experts to inform and shape international policy debates and discussions such as the ones taking place in this Committee. It is in this context, IQsensato has been collaborating with the African Copyright and Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) Project (http://www.aca2k.org/index.php/); a project that has explored for over two years, through empirical research, the relationship between national intellectual property (IP) frameworks, particularly the copyright environments, and access to knowledge in African countries. The project covers eight African countries, namely Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

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2009.12.16 15:39:14

Denise Nicholson

 The ACA2K South Africa Research Team -- Tobias Schonwetter, Caroline Ncube and Pria Chetty -- has presented its research findings at two policy stakeholder workshops, on 12 November at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and on 3 December at the Wits Graduate School of Public and Development Management (P&DM) in Johannesburg. UCT's Prof. Julian Kinderlerer gave the opening address at the Cape Town workshop, whilst Uganda's Dr. Dick Kawooya, the ACA2K Lead Researcher, opened the Johannesburg meeting. Also in attendance at the events were Fernando dos Santos of the ACA2K Mozambique Research Team and Denise Nicholson, the ACA2K Policy and Dissemination Advisor, both of whom gave presentations. 

See presentations by:

SA ACA2K Team

Fernando dos Santos

Denise Nicholson

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2009.12.16 15:09:32

Denise Nicholson

Denise Nicholson, ACA2K's Policy and Dissemination Advisor, gave a presentation on “Copyright in Africa” at a multi-stakeholder workshop hosted by the South African National Council for the Blind in Pretoria on 30 November.

At the same meeting, a Declaration in support of the World Blind Union’s proposed Treaty for Improved Access for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons (referred to as the "TVI") was adopted. It was adopted by all the representatives and supporters of the blind and visually-impaired communities who were present, including Nicholson on behalf of ACA2K. For more information, see http://a2knetwork.org/support-access-knowledge-visually-impaired and http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/our-work/blogs/treaty-visually-impaired

 

 

Denise Nicholson
16 December 2009

This article is the personal view of the author, Denise Rosemary Nicholson ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and does not purport to be the view/opinion of her institution or any other organisation or individual

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2009.11.23 09:11:23

Darshana Bhana

Sun, 22/11/2009 - 13:14 - By Jeremy Malcolm of Consumers International

Consumers International and the African Copyright and A2Kⁱ Project (ACA2K) this week held a successful workshop looking at the Global State of Copyright and Access to Knowledge at the 2009 meeting of the multi-stakeholder United Nations Internet Governance Forum in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. The session was moderated by Dr. Bassem Awad from ACA2K, who is also Chief Judge at the Egyptian Ministry of Justice.

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2009.11.18 13:49:33

Denise Nicholson

Two members of the ACA2K project -- Dr. Bassem Awad of the ACA2K Egypt Research Team and ACA2K Policy and Dissemination Advisor Denise Nicholson -- were invited by WIPO and the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva, to speak at the African-Arab Regional Seminar on "Copyright Limitations and Exceptions: Addressing the Needs of Affected Constituencies" held in Cairo on 2 November. This seminar was in preparation for the WIPO SCCR 19 Meeting to be held in Geneva in mid-December.

Awad presented on “Dissemination and Use of Copyrighted Works for Education.” He discussed the copyright environment in Egypt and presented the research findings of the ACA2K Research Team in Egypt.

Nicholson presented on “Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries, Archives and Museums.” She discussed the international and regional copyright trends affecting access to knowledge in Africa and stressed the need for more balanced and appropriate copyright limitations and exceptions for developing and least-developed countries in Africa. She also promoted eIFL’s model law, as well as the Statement of Principles on ‘Copyright Exceptions and Limitations for Libraries and Archives’, presented by eIFL/IFLA/LCA at WIPO SCCR 18 in May 2009. Nicholson encouraged delegates to support the WBU Treaty for the Blind, Visually Impaired and Reading Disabled, as well the international library community’s planned recommendations to the SCCR in December.

The seminar was officially opened and closed by Ambassador Naela Gabr, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for International Organisations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt. Other WIPO dignitaries who welcomed delegates and gave brief introductory talks were Sherif Saadallah, Executive Director, Department of External Relations, WIPO, and Dr. Mohamed Nour Farahat, Director of the Copyright Protection Office, Cairo. WIPO Director-General Francis Gurry was not able to attend. See full list of WIPO officials and invited delegates, the programme and presentations.

A strong message came out of this seminar -- a message that it is crucial that the needs of developing countries be taken into account in international copyright frameworks and national copyright laws.

The day after the WIPO Cairo event, on 3 November, Nicholson represented IFLA's Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters (CLM) at WIPO's Third Stakeholders' Platform Meeting at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria. Issues connected to access to alternative formats for print-handicapped persons were discussed at this meeting.

Denise Nicholson

18 November 2009


This article is the personal view of the author, Denise Rosemary Nicholson ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), and does not purport to be the view/opinion of her institution or any other organisation or individual

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OMPI | D2ASA

2009.11.09 10:26:23

Caroline Ncube

ACA2K research was highlighted when South Africa Research Team member Caroline Ncube of the University of Cape Town (UCT) spoke at the first-ever WIPO-ARIPO Seminar on  the Implementation of the Development Agenda (DA) held in Harare 26 -28 October. The seminar was attended by 56 participants from ARIPO member states and observers, members of the diplomatic corps based in Harare, international organisations, research institutions and civil society. Other speakers at the seminar included Sisule Musungu of IQsensato, Prof. Francis Matambalya and Dorothy Mushayavanhu. The topics under discussion encompassed IP and development policy, DA challenges and opportunities at the international and national levels, IP and MDGs, the DA and the public domain, the DA and international technology transfer, and incorporating the DA into national development policy.

ACA2K research was of particular relevance to the sessions on the public domain and national development policy. The participants were keen to hear what our research had established in the study countries and what policy and legislative directions we are recommending based on these findings.  Whilst it was clear at the seminar that much needs to be done to realise the potential of the DA, it was heartening to experience such keen interest and meaningful discussion on the topic. Further, it was encouraging to witness how relevant ACA2K research is to national development policies and the implementation of the DA.

Caroline Ncube
9 November 2009

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2009.10.02 14:52:40

Denise Nicholson

The ACA2K project was highlighted at an important national conference in South Africa this week. 

ACA2K Policy and Dissemination Advisor Denise Nicholson, who is Copyright Services Librarian at Wits University, presented at two sessions at the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) Conference at the Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein.

She gave a presentation on "Copyright and Access to Knowledge in Africa" at a parallel session on 30 September.  In this talk, she discussed international, regional and local copyright trends and the ACA2K project and its prelimimary findings. She gave the ACA2K Briefing Papers 1 and 2 as handouts to some 40 delegates who attended this session.

On 1 October,  Nicholson spoke to a large audience at a plenary session on "Public Lending Rights." She pointed out that there is no international or national obligation to introduce a public lending right into South Africa libraries and that no other developing country has such a right. 

Nicholson stressed that the current economic climate and state of transformation in South Africa are not conducive to the introduction, maintenance or sustainability of a public lending right. She also pointed out that a public lending right may work in some developed countries because of better state and library resources and because more people can afford to buy books, but there are many other issues to consider in a developing country context. The South African Government has far more pressing socioeconomic issues to budget for than paying a public lending right fee to commercial authors. Also, South Africa lacks a reading culture. Introducing a 'tax to read' would certainly not help the situation. South Africa's current copyright laws do not faciliate access to knowledge.

IFLA and eIFL do not promote a public lending right in developing countries and Nicholson discussed this in her presentation. She suggested that empirical research is necessary to investigate this topic in a developing country context, before it is considered for South African libraries. She also suggested that the Academic and Non-Fiction Authors Association of South Africa (ANFASA), the organisation promoting the lending right, should find alternative ways of creating incentives for authors to write, rather than expecting the government (or public through their taxes) to fund a public lending right scheme. 

Denise Nicholson
2 October 2009

This article is the personal view of the author, Denise Rosemary Nicholson (  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and does not purport to be the view/opinion of her institution or any other organisation or individual

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2009.09.21 19:40:02

Denise Nicholson

On 15 September, the National Library of South Africa (Pretoria Campus) held a seminar on “Trends and Developments in Publishing and Digital Archiving.” More than 90 people registered for this seminar, representing publishers, authors, academics, researchers, broadcasters and librarians . Members of the Legal Deposit Committee of the Ministry of Arts and Culture, and officials from the Culture and the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO) also attended.

The seminar was officially opened by John Tsebe, CEO and National Librarian, who welcomed all delegates to this important event. Lynn Johnson was the first speaker, presenting on “Digital Archiving@eTV” and discussing the move from analogue to digital broadcasting at eTV. Roy Page-Shipp, a consultant, spoke on “Digitisation in South Africa” and highlighted some of the important considerations libraries and archives have to take into account when digitising archival and copyright material.

Denise Nicholson, ACA2K Policy and Dissemination Advisor and Copyright Services Librarian at Wits University, gave a presentation on "Copyright in Africa." She discussed international, regional and local copyright trends which impact on African countries and distributed copies of ACA2K Briefing Papers. She stressed the need for more appropriate limitations and exceptions and a review of the South African Copyright Act. Nicholson stated that the South African Government is a member of the Africa Group at WIPO and a strong supporter of the WIPO Development Agenda, and questioned why the government has not amended its national copyright law accordingly. Provisions are urgently needed in the copyright law for digitisation and digital curation, education, libraries and persons with sensory disabilities.

Francois Hendrikz, Director of the SA Library for the Blind, presented on “Alternative Readings: Resources for the Visually-Impaired,” and highlighted the difficulties experienced by persons who are print-handicapped. Their access to knowledge is severely hampered since only 5 per cent of all publications are available in alternative formats. The South African Copyright Act has no provisions for persons with sensory disabilities and appropriate exceptions are therefore urgently needed to rectify this situation. 

Sandra Land of the Centre for Adult Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, spoke about “The State of Book Development in South Africa” and highlighted issues affecting the reading culture in South Africa.

Denise Nicholson
21 September 2009

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publishing; copyright; digitisation

2009.09.21 18:47:20

Denise Nicholson

On 9th July 2009, the ACA2K Ugandan Research Team held its National Dialogue Workshop at the Grand Imperial Hotel in Kampala, Uganda. The Team members are Dr. Dick Kawooya (lead researcher of the ACA2K Project), Mr. Ronald Kakungulu Mayambala and Ms. Jeroline Akubu.

Dr. Kawooya opened the proceedings with a warm welcome to delegates. Ms. Akubu presented on the “Introduction to ACA2K and the Ugandan Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act, 2006”, followed by Mr. Kakungulu Mayambala who spoke about the “Doctrinal Analysis of the Findings of the Uganda Study”. Dr. Kawooya then presented the “Findings of the Uganda Study on Copyright and Access to Learning Materials”, highlighting the inadequacies in the current copyright law and recommending more appropriate and balanced copyright laws.

Guest speaker, Dr. Marisella Ouma, who is from the Kenyan Copyright Board and Innovative Lawyering and a member of the Kenyan ACA2K Research Team, presented on “Copyrights and Access to Learning Material – Kenyan Experience”. The second guest speaker, Mrs. Denise Nicholson, ACA2K Policy & Dissemination Advisor and Copyright Services Librarian at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, presented on “Limitations and Exceptions in Education and Research Environments: SA experience – lessons for Uganda.” She also provided “Tips for Developing Countries when reviewing their Copyright laws”.

Delegates representing mainly publishers, IP law firms, musicians, academics and librarians participated in this workshop. The last session was a panel discussion which gave delegates the chance to discuss and debate various copyright and related issues. Each delegate received a copy of the Executive Policy Brief, the Uganda Country Report and the ACA2K Briefing Paper 1, April 2009, and ACA2K Briefing Paper 2, May 2009.

There was keen media interest in this workshop, resulting in the three research team members and some of the delegates being interviewed on UBC Tonight TV Channel on the evening of 9 July 2009. The event was also reported on NTV, WBS TV stations and on Radio One, KFM, Simba and other radio broadcasts. Newspapers also reported this event, e.g.”Copyright law may limit knowledge access – experts” which appeared in East African Business Week on 13 July 2009 and Copyright law could increase illiteracy, researchers warn in the Uganda Observer on 2 August 2009.

Denise Nicholson

21 September 2009

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copyright; Africa; ACA2K

2009.09.18 15:17:12

Denise Nicholson

The National Dialogue Workshop for the ACA2K Ghana Research Team was held at the Erata Hotel, Accra, Ghana on 30 June 2009.  It was organized with a grant support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada, and the Shuttleworth Foundation in South Africa.

The aim of the workshop was to highlight the interaction between access to knowledge and the copyright environment in Ghana. It was intended to address all stakeholders on the issues of access to knowledge and the interaction with copyright and to make a case for the revision and improvement of the copyright regulatory framework in Ghana.   

The workshop was formally opened with a keynote address from the Hon. Attorney General and Minister for Justice of Ghana, Mrs. Betty Mould Iddrisu. She stressed the importance of a balanced copyright regime. She said that “one way of facilitating access to knowledge is through the institutionalization of a ‘balanced’ copyright regulatory society. In accord with the object of a progressive copyright regulatory environment, the law should endeavour to promote the public interest in the encouragement and dissemination of works of the arts and intellect while at the same time providing a just reward for the creator.” This quest for a regulatory reform has received support and commendation from Hon. Ms. Betty Mould, from whose Ministry laws in Ghana originate.  

There were a number of speakers, including the Copyright Administrator of Ghana, Mr. Bernard Bosumprah, who focused primarily on the need to ensure effective protection of the intellectual property rights of authors.  The Head Librarian of the Faculty of Law, University Ghana, Mr. Emmanuel Darkey, focused on library perspectives with regard to limitations and exceptions for education and research environments in Ghana. He bemoaned the numerous restrictions on library access in Ghana, including the exclusion of private universities from benefiting from some of exceptions under the copyright law. There are three researchers in the Ghana research team, namely, Poku Adusei, Kwama Anyimadu-Antwi and Naana Halm.  Unfortunately due to illness, Naana Halm was not able to participate in this workshop. The other two team members presented the key findings and the regulatory recommendations of the ACA2K Ghana Country Report before formally launching the said Report. Besides the Executive Policy Brief that was distributed, copies of the published country report were distributed to the copyright stakeholders and their institutions. Interviews were also granted to the media, who wanted further details about the study. 
 
The final segment of the workshop was devoted to answering questions and discussion among the participants. Contributions from the representatives of the library services, the school for the blind, Copy Ghana, and the universities helped enrich the discussions. Suggestions were made for the inclusion of exceptions for the disabled and the shortening of the duration of copyright protection in Ghana. Also calls were made for the removal of taxes on materials imported for purposes of printing books in Ghana. 

This article is based on a report prepared for ACA2K by Poku Adusei.  

Denise Nicholson
18 September 2009

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Ghana; A2K; copyright; Africa

2009.09.09 11:43:57

Denise Nicholson

International intellectual property agreements allow limitations and exceptions to be adopted in national copyright laws.  Here are some tips for developing countries when reviewing their copyright laws:

• Adopt a maximalist approach – include as many limitations and exceptions as already in copyright regimes around the world – keep door open for new exceptions as technology changes.
• Try to separate exceptions for entertainment from exceptions for education and libraries in your copyright law.
• Ensure adequate exceptions for libraries, archives and museums (including provisions for accessing and providing information; digitization; preservation, digital curation (including migration to new technologies as they change)).
• Ensure adequate exceptions for people with sensory-disabilities (e.g. blind, visually-impaired, print- handicapped, blind/deaf, deaf, dyslexic, reading & learning disabilities, etc.)
• Ensure adequate exceptions for classroom teaching, as well as distance and open learning, literacy training, adult basic education, non-commercial staff training and sharing of information amongst colleagues for research, discussion and information purposes.
• Do not include protection for non-original databases. (It had little or no positive impact for rightsholders in the EU and created problems for users). Original databases are protected by copyright like any original work.
  
• Keep or reduce the copyright term to the lifetime of the author plus 50 years in terms of the minimum requirements of international IP agreements – Longer terms do not benefit net importers of intellectual property.
• Do not include anti-circumvention clauses, unless there are clear, balanced exceptions to enable access to information.
• Do not include public lending/educational lending rights (countries are not obliged to in terms of any international agreements). To date, no developing country has adopted a lending right. IFLA and eIFL do not promote public lending rights for developing countries. See IFLA Position Paper on the Public Lending Right and its Background Paper on the Public Lending Right.
• Consult the eIFL-IP Draft Law on Copyright Including Model Exceptions and Limitations for Libraries and Consumers . Also see commentary on this draft law.
• Adopt the best provisions from WIPO Studies on -

Limitations & Exceptions for the Visually-Impaired;

Limitations & Exceptions of Copyright & Related Rights in the Digital Environment

Copyright Limitations & Exceptions for Education – final report due at end of 2009

• Promote Open Access, Open Source Software & Open Licensing (e.g. Creative Commons, etc.)
• Create and populate Open Access Institutional Repositories/Research Archives to showcase African research.
• Encourage authors not to sign over all their rights to publishers – encourage them to retain rights to enable them to place their works in open access institutional repositories, on personal blogs or to include in teaching materials. Encourage them to use of an Author’s Addendum.
• Seek expert and free assistance and advice from Access to Knowledge (A2K) organizations/projects/initiatives when reviewing copyright laws, e.g. Electronic Information for Libraries; African Copyright & Access to Knowledge Project (ACA2K); Commonwealth of Learning; IFLA Committee for Copyright and Other Legal Matters (CLM) and Consumers International.
  
  Also consult the following publications (free to download):-

eIFL Handbook on Copyright & Related Issues

and

“Introducing Copyright – a plain language guide to copyright"
(Commonwealth of Learning).

• Consult the resources on ACA2K website, Wits Copyright Portal and Commonwealth of Learning's Copyright Resources. 
  
• Lobby your Government officials who attend WIPO meetings in Geneva to call for users’ rights to be enshrined in a balanced international framework. If they are supporting the WIPO Development Agenda in Geneva, why are they not implementing better and more balanced copyright laws at home?
  
  
  9 September 2009
  
  This article is the personal view of the author, Denise Rosemary Nicholson ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and does not purport to be the view/opinion of her institution or any other organisation or individual.

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copyright tips; tips for developing

2009.09.02 16:05:10

Denise Nicholson

Assane Faye, ACA2K researcher from Senegal, and Denise Nicholson, ACA2K Policy and Dissemination Advisor, attended the World Library and Information Congress: 75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly (23-27 August 2009), held at the Fiera Milano Convention Centre in Milan, Italy.  The theme of the conference was "Libraries create futures: Building on cultural heritage".  There was a total attendance of 4 496 people at this conference, consisting of  3,931 registrants, 228 volunteers and members of the Italian staff, 128 exhibitors, 34 press, 30 interpreters and various other guests.

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ifla; world library congress; a2k;