Access to Knowledge in Africa: The Role of Copyright

Even those who consider themselves experts on IP will benefit immensely from this book and the broader ACA2K project’s work. 
— Sisule Musungu, President of IQsensato, Geneva

The emergence of the Internet and the digital world has changed the way people access, produce and share information and knowledge. Yet people in Africa face challenges in accessing scholarly publications, journals and learning materials in general. At the heart of these challenges, and solutions to them, is copyright, the branch of intellectual property rights that covers written and related works.

This book gives the reader an understanding of the legal and practical issues posed by copyright for access to learning materials in Africa, and identifies the relevant lessons, best policies and best practices that would broaden and deepen this access. This book is based on the work of the African Copyright and Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) research network, launched in late 2007 as a network of researchers committed to probing the relationship between copyright and learning materials access in eight African countries: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

The editors

Chris Armstrong, the ACA2K Research Manager, is Visiting Research Fellow, LINK Centre, Graduate School of Public and Development Management (P&DM), Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Jeremy de Beer, an ACA2K Principal Investigator, is an Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Canada.

Dick Kawooya, ACA2K Lead Researcher, is a Senior Lecturer, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA.

Achal Prabhala, an ACA2K Principal Investigator, is a researcher and writer in Bangalore, India.

Tobias Schonwetter, an ACA2K Principal Investigator, is a Post-doctoral Fellow, Intellectual Property Law & Policy Research Unit, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town, South Africa.