Right to Research
The right to research in Africa
By Desmond Oriakhogba
African researchers continue to face information-access barriers owing to copyright exclusivity preserved by the global copyright system that is designed and skewed towards protecting rights holders’ interests. A specific explicit human right to research is an important mechanism that can ensure an equitable balance between the private commercial interest of copyright owners and the public interest in promoting access to information for research in Africa. This article demonstrates how the right to research can be constructed from the normative content and scope of the rights to science and culture, education, property and freedom of expression provided for in international, regional and national human rights regimes in Africa.
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Unlocking the Potential of Copyright Limitations and Exceptions (L&Es)
by Faith O. Majekolagbe
Copyright limitations and exceptions (L&Es) are vital tools for creativity, innovation, access to knowledge and education, and human capital formation. All of these are crucial to the development of societies and achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A strong system of well-defined copyright L&Es guarantees the public adequate access and use of the cultural goods and knowledge that are critical to achieving development goals. This paper identifies and discusses specific clusters of L&Es that are essential for achieving the SDGs. These clusters should be recognized and implemented in copyright laws at national, regional, and international levels to strengthen development objectives. Instead of applying specific L&Es to all countries, regardless of their unique developmental needs, recognizing these clusters of L&Es could help design an approach to international copyright law that is centred around development. Ultimately, this approach would provide greater flexibility in designing development programs that align with the SDGs and recognize copyright law’s inherent development rationale.
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A Right to Research in Africa?
A Week of Events on Copyright and Access to Knowledge in South Africa
The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property of the American University Washington College of Law (PIJIP) is co-organizing a week of debates on copyright and access to knowledge in South Africa the week of January 23rd, with a coalition of three university groups and four civil society organizations.
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