Copyright Protection Copyright Protection aims at: Providing incentives for creativity by granting authors a number of exclusive rights Providing incentives for creativity by granting authors a number of exclusive rights Balancing the rights granted to authors with the public interest of society at large (Exceptions and Limitations) Balancing the rights granted to authors with the public interest of society at large (Exceptions and Limitations)

Limitations on Copyright (I) Limitations on Copyright (I) A) Temporal Limitation - Copyright Protection is time bound - It begins with the creation of the work and continues until some time after the death of the author in order to enable the author’s successors to have economic benefits after the author’s death - International standard: Life of the author + 50 years

Limitations on Copyright (II) B) Geographic Limitation - The owner of a copyrighted work is protected by the law of a country against acts restricted by copyright law which are done in that county - For protection against acts done in another country, he must refer to the law of that country - Membership of both countries in international copyright conventions helps settle practical problems arising from geographic limitation

Exceptions to Copyright (I) A) Exclusions from copyright protection : - Ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such - News of the day - Works that are not fixed in material form - The text of laws and decisions of courts and administrative bodies - Non-original databases

Exceptions to Copyright Protection (II) B) “Fair use” - Certain acts may, in circumstances specified in the law, be done without the authorization of the copyright owner - Examples: * reproduction of a work exclusively for the personal and private use * making quotations from a protected work ( provided that the source of the quotation is mentioned and that the extent of the quotation is compatible with fair practice)

Exceptions to Copyright Protection (III) C) Public communication when the use is justified by an informatory purpose - The laws of some countries permit the broadcasting of protected works without authorization provided that fair remuneration is provided to owner of the copyright

Exceptions to Copyright Protection (IV) D)Compulsory License - The Paris Appendix (1971) of the Bern Convention permits developing countries to issue compulsory licenses for the reproduction of copyrighted material “for use in relation to certain systematic instructional activities” and for the translation of copyrighted material into a language of general use in the authorizing country

Importance of E and L to Developing Countries The Report of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights (2002) “… access to books and learning materials is still a real problem in many developing countries …In order to improve access to copyrighted works and achieve their goals for education and knowledge transfer, developing countries should adopt pro-competitive measures under copyright laws. Developing countries should be allowed to maintain or adopt broad exemptions for educational, research and library uses in their national copyright laws.”

Conclusion The ultimate goal of copyright is the cultural enrichment of society. The ultimate goal of copyright is the cultural enrichment of society. If society cannot benefit from the author’s work in a satisfying degree –because the author charges excessive prices – this would disturb the mutual exchange between them. This could justify the authorization of third parties to reproduce the copyrighted materials without the author’s consent. If society cannot benefit from the author’s work in a satisfying degree –because the author charges excessive prices – this would disturb the mutual exchange between them. This could justify the authorization of third parties to reproduce the copyrighted materials without the author’s consent. However, in order to preserve incentive for authors the exception should be limited to what is absolutely required in the public interest. However, in order to preserve incentive for authors the exception should be limited to what is absolutely required in the public interest. This requires a delicate balancing test between the competing interests of the public and the author. This requires a delicate balancing test between the competing interests of the public and the author.