Summary of qualitative analysis - Doctrinal analysis

3.2 Doctrinal analysis

3.3.3 Summary of qualitative analysis

There is little up-to-date secondary literature on the copyright law of Ghana in general and no literature on the impact of copyright law on access to learning materials. Generally, academics have not shown interest in writing about IP in Ghana.

Photocopying books is a common phenomenon on university campuses. The extent of such copying can sometimes be the entire book and such copying is, except in very particular circumstances, clearly beyond the scope of permitted use under Sections 19 and 21 of the copyright law of Ghana.

The cost of procuring both electronic and printed materials is a challenge for the universities. The inadequate supply of textbooks results in widespread and often illegal photocopying of materials for study purposes. Librarians and lecturers interviewed say that enforcing copyright to restrict photocopying would undermine teaching and research in the universities.

Although the scope of permitted uses under the copyright law is potentially restrictive, some of the restrictions have not been interpreted in policy, regulation or case law and there is no regime of strict enforcement in place yet (at least not against universities and students). Rights-holders have, however, expressly threatened to commence litigation to enforce copyright ‘at the appropriate time’. When that occurs, access to teaching and learning materials could be seriously and adversely impacted.

Though universities are primary users of copyright materials, they have been unable to participate in policy decisions on copyright matters. On the other hand, private rights-holders interviewed said that they had participated copyright law and policymaking discussions.

The research found that the bulk of materials used by educational institutions at all levels in Ghana are printed books. At the basic and secondary levels, electronic materials are not usually relied upon and it is only now that steps are being taken to include ICT in education at these levels. The situation is, however, different at the universities and other tertiary institutions. At the tertiary level, some institutions have limited access to electronic materials in the form of CD-ROMs, databases of literature searches and electronic journals. It was found that while hard-copy books are the most important resource for students, university researchers and faculty members prefer electronic journals and see electronic materials as a supplement to printed books. With respect to copyright infringement of electronic materials, this is not of much interest to private rights-holders since CopyGhana is currently focusing on photocopying activities of hard-copy materials on university campuses.

Sections 42 and 43 of Ghana’s Copyright Act, which deal, among other things, with TPM anti-circumvention and penalties for offences, have far-reaching implications.

Adusei has argued that the use of technological protection measures to lock up online materials is the newest threat to permitted uses under copyright law.³⁸ This new approach, of using encryption-based technology to protect copyright materials on the Internet, is considered by Dratler to be a gamble. There are two reasons for this: first, the private sector cannot continue to develop and maintain effective protective technologies to ward off potential infringers; and second, the adoption of technological measures to protect copyright works may obliterate uses that traditionally qualified as non-infringing.³⁹

3.4 Conclusions and recommendations

This study has shown that, over time, the scope of subject matter eligible for copyright protection in Ghana has increased considerably. The increase has not been unexpected, as Ghana has been striving to follow its international treaty obligations.

Also, copyright protection in Ghana reveals a pattern of incremental expansion in the duration of term of copyright protection, to the extent that Ghana has now adopted a TRIPs-plus approach, ie, the life of the author plus 70 years for literary works, instead of the TRIPs standard of life plus 50 years.

38 Supra note 36 at 224.

39 J. Dratler Jr. Cyberspace: intellectual property in the digital millennium (2000) Law Journal Press, New York, at 2-6.

It is said by some that the incremental expansion in the scope and duration of copyright in Ghana is intended to promote the creative talents of the citizenry.

The practical reality, however, is that the current copyright environment in Ghana makes it difficult for copyright’s main objectives — rewarding creativity and at the same time preserving access for teaching/learning material — to be balanced and realised. The problem is threefold. First, there is a general lack of public awareness of the existence, or the contents, of the Copyright Act, so people are not really motivated by copyright to be creative. Second, those who are aware of the content of the Copyright Act primarily seem to use it to promote their parochial interests.

Indeed, it is common to find the issuance of ‘anti-copyright-violation’ orders in the media without any corresponding counter-campaign to enlighten the public about access-enabling flexibilities under the same Act. The effect then is that the public is not encouraged or enabled to take advantage of the exceptions or permitted uses that fall outside the scope of copyright protection. Third, the scope of permitted uses has not been advanced or clarified in any policy document so far. This has made the scope of permitted uses murky, thereby making both the enforcement of the law and legitimate access by users, difficult. The environment can, however, be changed to maximise effective access to learning materials in Ghana.

In attempting to answer the core ACA2K research question (is the copyright environment in Ghana maximising learning materials access?) the study confirms that it would be misleading to assess the impact of the copyright law on access solely from the perspective of formal law (statutes, case law) and academic writing. An appreciation of the practice on the ground is crucial to understanding the impact of the copyright regime. This is because, as the probe found, the practice on the ground is much different from the stipulations provided in formal law. Even though the scope of permitted use under the Copyright Act of Ghana is seemingly restrictive, people do not concern themselves with the requirements of the law when making photocopies or engaging in other pro-access activities. Thus Ghana finds itself in the situation of other ACA2K study countries, which is that both the existing laws and the practices potentially undermine access to knowledge by jeopardising the legitimacy of the entire copyright system. This situation is unfavourable for an effective system of access to copyright-protected materials in Ghana.

The way forward is to ensure that, before there is an enforcement crackdown, there is creation of better protection for learners who access copyright materials for legitimate, non-commercial purposes. Stricter enforcement of the law would, if begun before protection of user rights, undermine some of the key objectives of any progressive copyright system. It would stifle access to teaching and learning, which, in turn, would slow ‘creativity’ in Ghana. Enforcement mechanisms must be balanced against policies to improve the lot of students and researchers in Ghana.

The media should also take responsibility for the task of educating the public about the details of copyright protection in Ghana. This education, unlike the campaigns promoted by some influential parties thus far, should not be skewed in favour of private rights-holders. It should also promote the public interest in terms of access to teaching and learning materials.

Channels of communication must be created among copyright stakeholders, in order to widen copyright decision-making in Ghana. This would build trust among private owners and public users of copyright materials so as to make copyright administration more effective. The universities, as primary users of learning materials, should participate in policy decisions on copyright.

In order to contribute to policy debates and to manage their interests, the universities may need internal legal offices as part of the library systems, which would advise on copyright issues. It is erroneous for any academic or research institution to assume that it cannot potentially be held liable for excess photocopying by students and unofficial photocopy operators on their campuses. Universities and private rights-holders should collaboratively begin to develop ‘access guides’ in the tertiary institutions in order to regulate photocopying activities in ways that take full advantage of the copyright exceptions and limitations under the law and to educate students and researchers about copyright restrictions. The universities should disclaim liability, via the guides, for non-permitted photocopying activities on their campuses.

It is a positive development that the private universities have now also joined the public universities’ library consortium CARLIGH in order to procure access to learning and research materials at a cheaper cost.

Subject-based collective societies should be established in Ghana in order to avoid the confusion currently surrounding the collective management system and to enable educational institutions and researchers to know where to seek permission when they want to exceed the limits of permitted use under the Act. Ensuring accountability in those collective societies is also necessary to serve as a morale booster for the public when paying for use beyond what is free under the law.

The government’s policy on free textbooks should be extended to private primary and private secondary schools and to all tertiary institutions (private and public).

Also, the libraries in private academic and research institutions should be supported financially by the Ministry of Education. At the same time, the government should heed the recent calls from the heads of private universities to reduce corporate tax on private universities. This would bring down the cost of higher education at private universities. Local publishing companies, such as the Ghana Universities Press, should be promoted, in order to achieve a sustainable local book industry.

Furthermore, reducing taxes on materials used for publishing books locally could reduce the price of books in Ghana, making the local book industry more competitive.

The unnecessarily long term of copyright protection in Ghana restricts the public domain. The term should be reduced to a period of 50 years, the standard required by international law. The Attorney General’s Justice Department could, among other things, flesh out the scope of free use, so that the public will know the limits of free use. Policies to implement the Disability Act should include pro-access mechanisms for disabled students and researchers. Such pro-pro-access policies should be included in the subsidiary legislation (the LI) to implement the Copyright Act and the Disability Act. More generally and most importantly, the thin scope of permitted use under Ghana’s copyright law deserves re-thinking to include more exceptions and to relax existing stringent exceptions in order to promote access to knowledge in Ghana. In this regard, experiences relating to copyright exceptions in other jurisdictions should serve as a guide.

Bibliography Primary sources

Statutes, regulations and policies

Constitution of the Republic of Ghana of 1992.

High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, (C.I. 47).

Memorandum to the Copyright Bill, 2005.

WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) of 1996.

WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) of 1996.

WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) of 1994.

Cases

Archibold v CFAO [1966] GLR 79.

CCH Canadian Ltd v Law Society of Upper Canada 2004 SCC 13, [2004] 1 SCR 339.

CFAO v Archibold [1964] GLR 718.

Copyright Society of Ghana v Afreh [1999-2000] 1 GLR 135.

Ellis v Donkor & Another [1993-94] 2 GLR 17.

Feist Publications Inc v Rural Telephone Service Co. (1991) 499 US 340.

Musicians Union of Ghana v Abraham & Another [1982-83] GLR 337.

Ransome-Kuti v Phonogram Ltd [1976] 1 GLR 220.

Ransome-Kuti v Phonogram Ltd [1978] GLR 316.

The Republic v Ministry of Education & Sports & Others: Ex parte Ghana Book Publishers Association AP11/2006 [unreported].

University of London Press Ltd v University Tutorial Press Ltd (1916) 2 Ch 601.

Secondary sources

Adusei, P. ‘Burden of proof in land cases: an analysis of some recent decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Ghana’ (2000-2002) 22 University of Ghana Law Journal 223.

Adusei, P. ‘Cyberspace and the dilemma of traditional copyright law: an assessment of the impact on the legal community’ (2002-2004) 22 University of Ghana Law Journal 202.

Adusei, P. ‘The evolution of Ghana’s copyright regime since independence: a critical appraisal’ in Mensa-Bonsu et al (eds) Ghana law since independence: history, development and prospects (2007) Black Mask Publication, Accra.

Amegatcher, A.O. Ghanaian law of copyright (1993) Omega Law Publishers, Accra.

Asmah, J. ‘Historical threads: intellectual property protection of traditional textile designs: the Ghanaian experience and African perspectives’ (2008) 15 International Journal of Cultural Property 271.

Dratler, J. Cyberspace: intellectual property in the digital millennium (2000) Law Journal Press, New York.

Encyclopedia of Earth ‘Ghana’ (2009). Available at http://www.eoearth.org/article/

Ghana [Accessed 31 May 2009].

Ghana News Agency ‘Economic growth declined in 2007’ (12 November 2008).

Available at http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/

artikel.php?ID=152940 [Accessed 31 May 2009].

Ghana Statistical Service Women and men in Ghana: a statistical compendium (2006) Vol 1.

Government of Ghana Ghana budget highlights (2008). Available at http://www.

ghana.gov.gh/ghana/budget_highlights_year_2008.jsp [Accessed 31 May 2009].

Institute of Economic Affairs 2007 Economic review and outlook report (2007).

Kuruk, P. ‘Trends in the protection of IPRs: a case study from Ghana,’ in Melvin Simensky et al (eds) Intellectual property in the marketplace (1999) Ch 18, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York.

Ministry of Education, Science and Sports Report on the education sector annual review (ESAR) (2006) Government of Ghana.

Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Ghana’s budget statement for 2009 (2009), Government of Ghana. Available at http://www.mofep.gov.gh/

budget2009.cfm [Accessed 31 May 2009].

Chapter 4 Kenya

Marisella Ouma and Ben Sihanya

4.1 Background

Kenya, in East Africa, has a population of approximately 39 million people, with 42 ethnic communities.¹ English is the official language and Kiswahili is the national language. The adult literacy level is 73.6 per cent.² The country’s economy relies largely on agriculture and tourism.

Kenya obtained independence from British rule in 1963 and has a multiparty political system. One of the goals of the government at the time of independence was to eradicate illiteracy.³ The government recognised education as a basic tool to secure human resource development,⁴ and it took several steps to provide education to all Kenyans. As a result, primary and secondary education in Kenya is free in public schools.⁵ Universal Primary Education (UPE) was introduced in January 2003 and Universal Secondary Education (USE) was introduced in January 2008.⁶ The provision of free basic education saw a sharp increase in public primary school enrolment,⁷ with a gross primary school enrolment rate of 99 per cent and a total of 1.2 million children absorbed into schools.⁸ This influx has heightened the demand for teaching and learning materials in schools.

1 The World Bank estimated that Kenya’s population was 38 million in 2008.

2 UNDP 2007/2008 Human development report (2008). Available at http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/

global/hdr2007-2008/ [Accessed 1 June 2010].

3 B. Sihanya ‘How IMF policies constrain policy space in Kenya’s education sector’ in Ben Sihanya (ed) The impact of IMF policies on education, health and women’s rights in Kenya (2008) Action Aid International at 46.

4 Ibid.

5 Free Primary Education refers to the waiver of tuition fee and provision of text books and classroom material only.

6 Universal Primary Education (UPE) was first introduced in 1979, but had to be abandoned with the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) in the 1980s. Universal Secondary Education (USE) is a misnomer. Both UPE and USE have faced major financial and administrative challenges.

7 Supra note 3 at 106.

8 Republic of Kenya Sessional paper No. 5, a policy framework on education, training and research:

meeting the challenges of the education, training and research in Kenya (2006) Government Printers, Republic of Kenya.

The high number of students enrolled at these levels of the system will cause more students to seek tertiary/university education,⁹ posing major challenges to access and quality. University education was heavily subsidised by the government until the early 1990s when, as a result of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Structural Adjustment, the conditions and government policy changed. Tertiary students were required to meet their own costs, including tuition, accommodation and the purchase of books and other learning materials.¹⁰

To ensure that university education was not completely out of the reach of those with no means, the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) was established in 1995. The Board is mandated to, inter alia, give loans, bursaries and scholarships to needy Kenyan students pursuing their education within and outside Kenya.

Initially the loans were available only to students attending public universities’

regular or day programmes. In 2007, HELB extended the loan facilities to students attending private universities in the country. About 34 per cent of a HELB loan is earmarked for the student’s personal expenses, including books, whereas the tuition loan is directed to universities.¹¹ Many times, however, the HELB loan allocated for a student’s personal expenses is insufficient to cater for all necessary books, as the books are usually very expensive. Many tertiary students therefore photocopy — or purchase photocopies of — entire books, book chapters and other reading materials.

The government has enacted policies that aim to facilitate access to materials, including the National Text Book Policy on Publication, Procurement and Supply of June 1998.¹² The government’s expenditure on education is equivalent to 7 per cent of the country’s GDP.¹³ The government fully subsidises primary school books and other primary-level teaching materials, which are sourced via government procurement procedures.

In order to support lifelong education, the Kenya National Library Service (KNLS) was established to provide reference, teaching and learning materials to the public. It is a state corporation established under the Kenya National Library

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid.

11 S.O. Odebero, et al ‘Equity in the distribution of HELB loans in Kenya in relation to student characteristics: an empirical analysis’ (2007) 2:8 Educational Research and Review 209, August 2007. Available at http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR/PDF/pdf%202007/Aug/Odebero%20 et%20al.pdf [Accessed 26 March 2009].

12 D. Rotich ‘Textbook publishing in Kenya under a new policy on school textbook procurement’

(2000) Publishing Research Quarterly 16, 2 June 2000.

13 Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 Kenya vision 2030; a globally competitive and prosperous Kenya (2007).

Service Board Act.¹⁴ KNLS currently runs public libraries in major towns in Kenya, as well as mobile libraries for remote areas.¹⁵ In addition, entities such as the Nairobi City Council, embassies, high commissions and foundations run libraries in Kenya. There are also ‘departmental libraries’, which are not professionally run and which are rarely used. A departmental health library, for example, which was started about 17 years ago at Pumwani Hospital, is at present non-operational.

There are libraries within educational institutions such as universities, colleges and schools. University libraries, in particular, have remained central to the management of scholarly communication.¹⁶

As mentioned, the introduction of IMF Structural Adjustment policies in Kenya resulted in limited funding for Kenya’s public universities.¹⁷ This has had an impact on the development of library and information services in universities. Public university libraries are not equipped to deal with the rising student enrolment numbers. As a result, academics in Kenya and in particular senior faculty members, have increasingly adopted strategies other than using the university library to obtain information. These strategies include: using personal contacts in the developed world to obtain reports, journal articles and

Im Dokument Access to knowledge in Africa The role of copyright (Seite 94-107)