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Intellectual Property: benefit or burden for Africa?

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Nicholson.D{at}library.wits.ac.za

This paper highlights some of the issues affecting access to knowledge in South Africa and other African countries, as well as the implications of international intellectual property agreements, focusing mainly on copyright. It will show that the majority of these countries are struggling to meet the very basic requirements of international intellectual property agreements, yet some of them are being pressured by developed countries to adopt even stricter intellectual property regimes through the Intellectual Property Chapter or ‘TRIPS-Plus’ in Free Trade Agreements. The paper highlights the impact of the some of the TRIPS-Plus provisions on education, libraries, and people with sensory-disabilities, as well as public health and development in general.

Key Words: Intellectual property • Copyright • Access to knowledge • TRIPS-Plus • Free trade agreements • Africa

IFLA Journal, Vol. 32, No. 4, 310-324 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0340035206074067


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