In December 2014, 20 participants from 11 countries (Belgium, Lithuania, Ghana, Uganda, France, Albania, Botswana, Cameroon, Armenia, Macedonia and the US) joined a webinar on the updated EIFL draft law on copyright including Model Exceptions and Limitations for Libraries and their Users (2014).
After five years, it was time to update the 2009 EIFL Draft Law on Copyright, that has been consulted by EIFL librarians and policy makers globally, in the light of legislative developments, current thinking on copyright policy, and library services enabled by new technologies. As a result, some of the exceptions and limitations were amended, while new provisions were introduced. For example, a flexible exception to 'future-proof' the law for technological advances and new activities that can’t be foreseen even five years from now. The document also got a makeover with a new easier to read layout.
The webinar was led by Jonathan Band J.D. and provided an introduction to the draft law, its background and context, as well as its key provisions with a Q&A session at the end.
We hope that the draft law, designed to support access to knowledge and the public interest mission of libraries, will continue to be practical guide for librarians, as well as their legal advisors and policy-makers, when national laws are being updated.
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