Copyright Issues for Libraries in Mauritius

The national copyright legislation of Mauritius (mainly the Copyright Act 1997) has made provisions at section 16 of the Act for libraries and archives to make a single copy of a copyright work provided it is for educational or private research, non-commercial or for preservation purposes. This exception / limitation clause of  the copyright law to libraries and archives is not an infringement of international copyright conventions to which Mauritius is signatory. During the recent few months, the Mauritius Association of Artists (MASA), acting as a licensing agency for reprographic reproduction of copyrighted works, has been pressing libraries to procure a license for photocopying (copyrighted) library materials. In the absence of adequate information on the “operationalisation” of the license, confused colleagues still ponder on many unanswered questions. After discussing the issue with a few friends, I have worked out a paper taking a broader view of copyright issues for libraries. In the paper, the initiative of MASA to act as a licensing agency along with a description of prevailing situations regarding copyright in the US  and UK libraries have been commented . Your views, comments and criticisms are solicited to enrich the dabate  on this subject. You may access the article by clicking on the following link Copyright Issues for Libraries in Mauritius

P. Hauroo