This document summarizes the African Copyright & Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) Project, which examined national copyright laws and access to learning materials in 8 African countries. The project found that while countries' copyright laws complied with or exceeded international treaties, strict laws restricted access and cross-border sharing. It recommended more flexible exceptions and limitations in copyright laws, and greater participation of educational and library sectors in the legislative process.

1. The African Copyright & Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) Project: an overview of national copyright environments and access to learning materials in 8 African countries Denise Rosemary Nicholson Copyright Services Librarian University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and SA Representative - eIFL-IP Project Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za UNESCO/eIFL Regional Workshop on ‘Benefits of Open access for Research Dissemination, Usage, Visibility and Impact’ 22-23 November 2010 – ASSAf , Pretoria

2. Overview Access to Information as a human right Background to ACA2K Project Choice of study countries Conceptual framework & methodology Key research findings Recommendations Conclusion

4. “Freedom, prosperity and the development of society depend on education, as well as on unrestricted access to knowledge, thought, culture and information.” (IFLA/FAIFE)

5. “Knowledge is not a commodity, and can never be one. Knowledge is the distillation of human endeavour, and it is the most profound collective good that there is". (A. Erwin, former Minister of Trade & Industry, South Africa)

7. Strengthen protection and enforcement

8. Shrinkthe public domain

9. Restrictaccess to knowledge

11. Copyright in Africa Copyright vs. collective ownership Rights-holders promote stricter copyright Librarians & educators excluded from legislative process Strict copyright laws restrict access & affect cross-border resource-sharing Main beneficiaries are developed countries Copyright laws should be tailored

12. Some Regional A2K Initiatives Access to Learning Materials for Southern Africa Conference, 2005 SADC (Gaborone) and SCECSAL (Kampala) presentations, 2005 African Copyright Forum, Kampala, Uganda, Nov. 2005 African Access to Knowledge Alliance, 2005 – Key partner in 2 projects: SARUA Open Access Leadership Summit, Botswana, 2007 - http://www.sarua.org/?q=content/open-access-leadership-summit-gaborone-botswana-20-21-november-2007 - ACA2K Project - www.aca2k.org

13. Background to ACA2K Project Restrictive copyright practices and regulations in developing countries Lack of access to Internet-based technologies Out-dated paradigms for knowledge collection and dissemination Lack of creative and effective government-supported enabling environments within higher education

14. ACA2K Project (2007-2010) African Access to Knowledge (AAKA), Wits Link Centre & various tertiary institutions formed research network in 2007 Probing relationship between national copyright environments and A2K in African countries. Supported by IDRC (Canada) & Shuttleworth Foundation (SA) - Managed by Wits Link Centre Webpage: www.aca2k.org

15. ACA2K Project Context

16. ACA2K Study Countries 8 Research Nodes: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

17. Conceptual Framework

18. Methodology Doctrinal Research Component: Analysis of the country’s copyright statutes and regulations (audit tool), analysis of judicial and administrative decisions, case law (where applicable) Qualitative Research Component: Secondary literature (scholarly literature, govt. reports, etc) & Impact assessment interviews - standardised interview tools (intended or actual consequences, perceptions, interpretation, or lack thereof) ACA2K Methodology Guide: http://www.aca2k.org/attachments/083_ACA2K%20Methodology%20Guide-April%202008.pdf Comparative Analysis across the 8 study countries

19. ACA2K Research Findings Study countries’ copyright laws compliant or exceed requirements of international treaties Lack of copyright awareness and enforcement The stricter the copyright law, the more the non-compliance.

20. ACA2K Research Findings (cont’d) Collective management - potential remedy – but has its own problems (costs; few agencies; pay for fair use/fair dealing; lack of transparency or accountability, etc.) Infringement is facilitating access to learning materials, not copyright

21. Recommendations Disconnect between laws & practice must be narrowed Educational & library sectors must actively participate in legislative process More flexibility through appropriate limitations & exceptions will restore balance in copyright laws Parallel importation, compulsory licences & exceptions to TPMs are options Regulation of copyright in digital environment bears a special responsibility, e.g. in ICTs

22. Dissemination of ACA2K Research Outcome Mapping International Stakeholders’ Meeting, Geneva 2009 National Dialogue Workshops for all stakeholders Research reports, academic papers, blogs Final Research Report published in OA book: ‘Access to knowledge in Africa: the role of copyright’ - http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/490-1/

23. Solution A BalancedInternational Framework that enshrines ALLUsers’ Rights – and Appropriate National Copyright laws

24. Thank you Denise Rosemary Nicholson Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za Wits Copyright Information http://web.wits.ac.za/Library/Services/COPYRIGHT.htm Wits Copyright Portalhttp://web.wits.ac.za/Library/ResearchResources/SubjectPortals/Copyright+and+Related+Issues.htm Wits Plagiarism Portal http://web.wits.ac.za/Library/ResearchResources/SubjectPortals/Plagiarism+Portal.htm Copyright Blogs http://aca2k.org and http://kim.wits.ac.za

25. “Copyright & A2K Issues” free information service Topics covered: Copyright; Plagiarism; Open Access; Open Educational Resources; Traditional Knowledge; Digitization and Library issues; Conference alerts; useful websites; issues affecting access to knowledge for the sensory-disabled; SA legislation that affects access to information, etc. Subscribe at: http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo Or email Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za to subscribe you.

29. Copyright Limitations & Exceptions – Why they are important for access to knowledge -http://www.aca2k.org/index.php?option=com_idoblog&task=viewpost&id=79&Itemid=69

30. Exceptions and Limitations in copyright vital in South countries - http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/intellectual_property/info.service/2008/twn.ipr.info.081102.htm

31. L & Es - http://www.cptech.org/ip/copyright/le.html

32. Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries - http://www.aallnet.org/aallwash/LCAPosition110308.pdf

34. Useful Copyright Handbooks eIFL Handbook on Copyright & Related Issues: http://www.eifl.net/cps/sections/docs/ip_docs/draft-law “Introducing Copyright – a plain language guide to copyright” (Commonwealth of Learning): http://www.col.org/resources/publications/monographs/Pages/Copyright.aspx

35. Tips for developing countries when reviewing copyright laws See: http://www.aca2k.org/index.php?option=com_idoblog&task=viewpost&id=229&Itemid=73&lang=en or www.aca2k.org (click on Blog)

36. International A2K initiatives IFLA – (1700 member organizations/150 countries) – www.ifla.org eIFL.net - (member organizations in 50 developing/in-transition countries) - www.eifl.net EBLIDA (150 European library/archive associations, etc.)- www.eblida.org Commonwealth of Learning – (53 Commonwealth countries)- www.col.org Consumers International – www.consumersinternational.org

37. International A2K initiatives (cont’d) Transatlantic Consumers’ Dialogue (TACD) – www.tacd.org Knowledge Ecology International - www.keionline.org Consumer Project on Technology (CPTech) - www.cptech.org A2K Global Social Movement (Yale University, USA) - http://research.yale.edu/isp/ Copy South (Kent Law School, UK – www.copysouth.org

38. Regional A2K initiatives African Copyright & Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) Project - www.aca2k.org Access to Learning Materials for Southern Africa Project – www.access.og.za (2005) (website now closed) African Access to Knowledge Alliance – Ugandan Chapter, 2005 - Continental Organization, 2007 (currently in partnership with ACA2K) http://www.col.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/Copyright_Alliance_article.pdf Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) – www.osisa.org African Digital Commons - www.commons-sense.org Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARUA) – www.sarua.org Publishing and Alternative Licensing Model of Africa (PALM) - http://www.idrc.ca/ccaa/ev-117012-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html SADC-Centre for Distance Education - www.sardec.org.bw

39. South African A2K initiatives Creative Commons/iCommons (South Africa) - icommons.org Wits Link Centre - http://link.wits.ac.za/ Library Association of SA (LIASA)/FAIFE – www.liasa.org Shuttleworth Foundation – www.shuttleworthfoundation.org African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) - http://avoir.uwc.ac.za/ Sivulile Open Access Project - http://www.sivulile.org/ CSIR research Space - http://researchspace.csir.co.za/dspace/ Human Sciences Research Council (South Africa) - http://www.hsrc.ac.za OA institutional repositories in tertiary institutions

40. SA National A2K initiatives SA Government – adopted Open Source policy - www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=94490 The National Research Foundation (NRF) – advocacy role re: OA National Electronic Theses & Dissertations Repository - www.nrf.ac.za Academy of Science of South Africa - SCIELO-South Africa OA publishing project - www.assaf.co.za

41. eIFL Model Copyright Law See: http://www.eifl.net/news/eifl-ip-draft-copyright-law-available-online