Fair or Free Use of Copyrighted Materials in Education and Research and the Limit of Such Use

The concept of fair use, fair dealing, or free use of copyrighted works for education and research is incorporated in copyright laws around the world. This is to strike a balance between the private interests of copyright holders and the public interests of students and researchers to use the copyrighted materials in furthering their knowledge. While fair and free use of copyrighted materials for the purpose of study and research is favored and permitted under copyright laws almost everywhere in the world, the limit of such use is not clearly defined in these laws. This Article will attempt to determine the permissible limit for copying copyrighted materials without paying fees to or asking permission from copyright holders in light of the existing legal provisions and case law from around the world. To do so, this Article will first analyze the national and international legal provisions related to copyright exception for education and research. The Article will then analyze various conditions and factors and their relative importance to determine generally how much copying of copyrighted materials for education and research would be allowed without permission or license fees. While this Article concludes that it is impossible to clearly define the precise permissible limit of fair and free use, this Article recommends for a liberal interpretation of fair and free use exception especially when such use is for education and research

Fair or Free Use of Copyrighted Materials in Education and Research and the Limit of Such Use

The concept of fair use, fair dealing, or free use of copyrighted works for education and research is incorporated in copyright laws around the world. This is to strike a balance between the private interests of copyright holders and the public interests of students and researchers to use the copyrighted materials in furthering their knowledge. While fair and free use of copyrighted materials for the purpose of study and research is favored and permitted under copyright laws almost everywhere in the world, the limit of such use is not clearly defined in these laws. This Article will attempt to determine the permissible limit for copying copyrighted materials without paying fees to or asking permission from copyright holders in light of the existing legal provisions and case law from around the world. To do so, this Article will first analyze the national and international legal provisions related to copyright exception for education and research. The Article will then analyze various conditions and factors and their relative importance to determine generally how much copying of copyrighted materials for education and research would be allowed without permission or license fees. While this Article concludes that it is impossible to clearly define the precise permissible limit of fair and free use, this Article recommends for a liberal interpretation of fair and free use exception especially when such use is for education and research

Restrictive Conditions for Free Uses of Copyrighted Materials under Omani Law and Their Implications for Users’ of Copyrighted Materials

Omani Copyright and Neighboring Rights Law of 2008 contains a list of exceptions to the exclusive rights of copyright holders. These exceptions allow people to copy and use copyrighted materials in certain cases without paying any fees or obtaining any permission from the copyright holders. The exceptions cover free uses for purposes like teaching, education, quotation in another work, dissemination of news etc. However, the Omani Copyright and Neighboring Rights Law puts many conditions for such free uses. Some of these conditions mirror similar conditions under the Berne Convention and other copyright conventions to which Oman is a party. Other conditions under Omani law are more restrictive than those that appear under international conventions. These additional conditions restrict the scope of free uses of copyrighted materials in Oman. Yet, some countries like USA and Canada, despite their being parties to the same international conventions, have much wider exceptions under their national legislation. The paper, therefore, recommends that Oman should follow the legislative approach of those countries in order to widen the scope of copyright exceptions for the benefits of users of copyrighted materials in Oman.