Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:15:46.180Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Academic Libraries and Copyright Issues in Ghana: The University of Ghana in Focus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2019

Emmanuel Mensah Darkey  and
Harry Akussah
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper briefly outlines what copyright is, the main actors in the copyright phenomenon, and the need to maintain a balance among them. The paper further discusses the difficulty in upholding copyright in relation to access to information in the University of Ghana, problems associated with the use of digital materials, the inadequacy of the permitted use principle, and the failure of copyright legislation to address the needs of the library and other groups or institutions.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Legal Information , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , Winter 2008 , pp. 432 - 446
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 by the International Association of Law Libraries 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Although this technological transformation has begun, libraries in Ghana have yet to fully emerge into the new digital environment.Google Scholar

2 See, http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html. Last visited May 18, 2009.Google Scholar

3 Hackett, T (1998) “Impact of Copyright on Access to Digital Resources in Libraries” EIFL-IP Programme for Africa, African Copyright Forum: Copyright Access to Information, Kampala, 29 November 2005.Google Scholar

4 Ghana Copyright Act, 2005 (Act 690).Google Scholar

5 Bainbridge, D (1992) “Intellectual Property”, 2nd ed. London: Pitman Publishing, 28.Google Scholar

6 Ibid.Google Scholar

7 See, http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/trtdocs_wo001.html. Last visited, May 18, 2009.Google Scholar

8 See, e.g., http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf. Last visited, May 18, 2009.Google Scholar

9 Davidson, J (2000 “An Analysis of Copyright and Digital Libraries” http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/∼ab443/digital_copyright.htm#_ftn35 (Last visited June11, 2008)Google Scholar

10 Henderson, C (1998) “Libraries as Creatures of Copyright: Why Librarians Care About Intellectual Property Law and Policy” http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/-woissues/copyrightb/copylib.pdf (Last visited June 9, 2008)Google Scholar

11 Steiner, H and Alston P. (2000) “International Human Rights in Context: Law Politics Morals” 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press, p.380Google Scholar

12 Id.Google Scholar

13 Consumers International “Copyright and Access to knowledge 2006” http://www.consumersinternational.org/ (last visited June 9, 2008)Google Scholar

14 Gasaway, L (2000) “Values Conflict in the Digital Environment: Librarians versus Copyright Holders” http://www.unc.edu/-unclng/Columbiaarticle.htm (last visited June 10, 2008).Google Scholar

15 For more information about this group, see, http://www.ifrro.org/show.aspx?-pageid=members/rrodetails&memberid=18 (Last visited May 22, 2009).Google Scholar

16 “CopyGhana Signs Pact with Methodist University” Daily Graphic December 1, 2005Google Scholar

17 University of Ghana Library Board Memo: Consideration of Proposal for Photocopier Operators. September 6, 2007Google Scholar

18 Ogunrombi, S and Bello M (1999) “Photocopying and the Awareness of Copyright in Tertiary Institutions in Bauchi State, Nigeria” African Journal of Library Archives and Information Science, Vol.9 No.1, p.50Google Scholar

19 “The Copy South Dossier: Issues in the Economic Political and Ideology of Copyright in the Global South” (2006) edited by Alan Story, Colin Darch and Debora Halbert. Canterbury: Researched and Published by the Copy/South Research Group pp. 14–15 Google Scholar

20 Amegatcher, A (1993) “Ghanaian Law of Copyright” Accra Ghana: Omega Law Publishers, p.49Google Scholar

21 Litman, J (1997) “Revising Copyright Law for the Information Age” 75 Oregon Law Review p.966–967Google Scholar

22 Ghana Copyright Act, 2005 (Act 690)Google Scholar

23 “Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works” (Paris Text 1971) http://law-ref.org/BERN/article3.html (Last visited June 16, 2008)Google Scholar

24 The section states: “The library or archive shall under subsection (1) ascertain that the copy is to be used solely for the purpose of study, scholarship or private research.”Google Scholar

25 Sallfors, A (2007) Sallfors's E-mail Response of March 12, 2007 to Questions Regarding Access to Electronic-Journal, Human Rights QuarterlyGoogle Scholar

26 Staincliffe, P (2006) ‘The Nonsense of Copyright in Libraries: Digital Information and the Right to Copy” http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00007466/01/Nonsense_copyright.pdf (Last visited June 17, 2008).Google Scholar

27 Story, A (2007) Webs of Copyright Researchers: Questions for Researchers p.25Google Scholar

28 Osew-Owusu, A (2008) Interview response to questions on the effect of copyright law on the blind and the visually impaired in universities in Ghana, 25 January 2008Google Scholar

29 The Copy South Dossier pp.89–95Google Scholar

30 IbidGoogle Scholar

31 Badu-Nyaku, S (2007) Interview response to questions on the effect of copyright law on distance education in university of Ghana, 5th December 2007Google Scholar

32 Carrie, R (2003) “Libraries in today's digital age: The copyright controversy” http://www.michaellorenzen.com/eric/copyright.html (Last visited June 27, 2008)Google Scholar

33 Staincliffe, P. (2006) “The nonsense of copyright in libraries: Digital information and the right to copy” http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00007466/01/Nonsense_copyright.pdf (Last visited June 9, 2008)Google Scholar

34 IbidGoogle Scholar