Updated WIPO Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has updated a 2008 study of copyright exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives from 186 countries:

"This report offers a significant update and expansion of the 2008 study. First, the combined 2008 and 2014 studies offer analysis of the copyright laws from all but one of the WIPO member countries. Second, this 2014 project identifies countries that have revised their relevant statutes since completion of the 2008 report. These statutory revisions confirm an ongoing need for legal change and reveal specifically the relevant copyright issues on which lawmakers in diverse countries have taken legislative attention (...)"

"Library exceptions are clearly fundamental to the copyright law of most countries. Of the 186 member countries, only 33 were identified as having no copyright exception in their statutes. Thus, 153 of the countries have one or more statutes that constitute a “library exception” within the scope of this study. The statutory library exceptions primarily address issues such as reproduction of copyrighted works for private research and study, preservation and replacement of materials, and document supply and interlibrary lending. Some issues that were prevalent in the 2008 study have not appeared frequently in more recent statutes. For example, the 2008 study examined statutes governing copying machines at the library and limitations on liabilities for infringements. This 2014 update reveals that relatively few countries have taken up these issues in their recent legislation."

"Despite the trend toward inclusion of familiar subjects, the details of the copyright statutes can vary greatly from one country to the next. Moreover, when national statutes reach beyond familiar subjects, the developments stand out. Two such subjects were identified in the 2008 study and appear more often in this 2014 update. First, a growing number of countries have instituted a provision from a European Union directive regarding t he ability of libraries to make digital copies of works available for study at dedicated terminals on the library’s premises. That concept has been adopted by many E.U. countries, but it also has been implemented by some countries outside the E.U. Second , many countries have adopted statutes on anti-circumvention of technological measures, and the statutes now more regularly include exemptions for the benefit of libraries."