Access to knowledge difficulties in developing countries: A balanced access to copyrighted works in the digital environment

Abstract

Copyright law, at its core, is a balancing act between the interests of creators and those of the public. It gives effective rights protection to the creators and provides reasonable access to the public in order to encourage creativity and innovation. In the digital realm of the more recent past, too much access to copyrighted works has caused problems for the copyright owners. Thus, most copyright owners, who are mainly from the developed countries, sought more protection in the form of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet Treaties and bilateral agreements. These agreements have since tilted the balance towards overprotection of copyrighted materials and consequently have restricted the public from access to knowledge, which has, for the most part, prevented developing countries from being able to use digital copyrighted material. This paper studies the aspect of access to knowledge (A2K) movement, the perspectives of developed vs developing countries, and proposed a new more balanced framework to foster greater access to knowledge in the digital environment for developing countries.